PAHO/WHO wishes to respond to the article Paho: Ziekenhuis Wanica niet geschikt voor Covid-19 published by the Suriname U-News (SUN) on March 14, 2020 and to indicate that this is not an official statement of PAHO. The use of the old version of our logo in connection with this message was also unauthorized. As such PAHO disassociates itself from this article. The opportunity is also taken to clarify that the Hospital Readiness Assessments conducted at all hospitals in Suriname over the period February 21-March 5, 2020 was done jointly with the full cooperation of the hospital management and medical teams. This exercise was done to discuss with medical, administrative, lab and management teams their assessment of the current state of their facilities to respond to an emergency and to jointly rate their readiness.

The results of these assessments were shared with all Hospital Medical Directors with the aim of providing guidance on areas where there is need for improvement in terms of overall preparedness. These assessments do not reflect a hospital audit and are a means of guiding hospital teams on areas for which greater focus should be placed in order to be prepared to respond. Preparedness at the facility level is a continuous process since the nature of the emergency will require varying responses PAHO/WHO has been supporting the Ministry of Health with the preparation of communication materials for the public, health workers, and other sectors to take preventive measures; capacity building for diagnosis and for health workers in infection prevention and control, risk communication and pandemic preparedness; and institutional strengthening through the provision of guidelines, tools and supplies to laboratories and health facilities. PAHO continues to provide support to Suriname’s emergency preparedness and response to the current COVID-19 pandemic…[+]