Despite the economic damage and upheaval inflicted on Antigua and Barbuda by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s response to it will ensure that it emerges from the crisis with a significant advantage in at least one critically important sector, according to the nation’s leader.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne believes the heavy investments that his government has made in the rapid procurement of topnotch facilities, equipment, personnel, certification and operating standards will result in Antigua and Barbuda having a health-care infrastructure that is second to none in the Eastern Caribbean.
“Maybe barring a couple of countries, we will have, easily, one of the best health-care infrastructure within the Caribbean, and that it certainly one of the positives coming out of Covid,” Browne said during his weekly Pointe FM radio program, the Browne and Browne Show.
The new facilities include a 17-bed state-of-the-art Infectious Diseases Control Center (IDC), an additional 75-bed hospital and the establishment of two community polyclinics which will double as mini hospitals – each with a roughly 6-bed capacity.
“Which means now that we are increasing the amount of beds per thousand of population by about from 2-3, which is about the average that you will find in any country … We want to make sure that we deal proactively with the whole issue of wellness, rather than have too many people ill and to rely on a significant amount of hospital beds.”
He noted that although the ultra-modern Mount St. John’s Medical Center “is a 200-bed hospital which has been able to take care of our needs, we had to expand on the basis that if there was any significant prevalence of COVID, then clearly we would have needed more beds.”
Instead, Browne declared, “What will happen now is that we will have such a strong health infrastructure, that we can now look toward providing export services within the sub-region. In fact, presently we are in the process of building out the kidney transplant facility to have specialized unit to do kidney transplants; as you know, we’ve been doing kidney transplants for a few years now – as to establish a cardiac unit as well.”
The Prime Minister reminded that the country is home to the cutting-edge Cancer Center of the Eastern Caribbean, and it also has the Friar’s Hill Road Stem Cell Facility that was established not too long ago.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is optimistic that the only two active cases of COVID disease still under treatment could be declared negative when they are tested again this week.
“Which means this week we should be able to declare Antigua and Barbuda COVID free – barring no new cases.”
