Regionale Gezondheidsdienst

The Regionale Gezondheidsdienst (RGD), or Regional Health Service, is a Surinamese institution responsible for primary healthcare in the country's coastal plain. It traces its institutional roots to the nineteenth-century Burgerlijk Geneeskundige Dienst (Civil Medical Service), which distinguished civilian medical care from the Military Medical Service. As the successor to the BGD, the RGD was established around 1980 under the name Regionaal Geneeskundige Dienst, following an international primary healthcare conference held in September 1978 in which all member states of the World Health Organization participated. On 1 September 1980 all government polyclinics and health centres were brought under the RGD, and exactly one year later the name was changed to Regionale Gezondheidsdienst. In 1991 the legal form was changed to a foundation (stichting). The RGD manages roughly fifty polyclinics and other facilities in the coastal plain, spread across the districts of Nickerie, Coronie, Saramacca, Paramaribo, Wanica, Para, Commewijne and Marowijne. Its services include general practitioner care, a medical laboratory, ambulance service, pharmacy, community health, diabetes mellitus care, HIV/AIDS information and treatment, mother and child care through consultation bureaus, school health care, sexual and reproductive health, emergency assistance and health education. The organisation presents itself with the slogan "Zorg voor gezondheid dicht bij huis" (Care for health close to home) and states that it has been doing so since 1991. The RGD's headquarters is located at Johan Adolf Pengelstraat 188 in Paramaribo, with an emergency service on the Limesgracht. It operates as a foundation rather than a listed company, and its services are aimed at the Surinamese population, particularly communities in the coastal districts. Around 2015 several new polyclinics were built and others renovated, reflecting continued investment in primary care infrastructure. The organisation also publishes newsletters and has responded to public health developments such as the Covid-19 pandemic with pre-screening measures.

The institutional history of the Regionale Gezondheidsdienst begins with the nineteenth-century Burgerlijk Geneeskundige Dienst (BGD), the Civil Medical Service, which was created to distinguish civilian medical care from the Military Medical Service. Medical missionary work (Medische Zending) had already entered Suriname earlier, in the eighteenth century. The BGD served as the predecessor organisation for what would later become the RGD. The immediate impetus for the RGD's creation was an international conference on primary healthcare held from 6 to 12 September 1978, attended by all member states of the World Health Organization. This conference, which produced the Declaration of Alma-Ata, emphasised primary healthcare as the key to achieving health for all. In line with this international movement, the RGD was established around 1980 under the name Regionaal Geneeskundige Dienst. On 1 September 1980, all government polyclinics and health centres in Suriname were brought under the RGD's management. Exactly one year later, on 1 September 1981, the organisation's name was changed to Regionale Gezondheidsdienst. In 1991, the legal form of the RGD was changed to a foundation (stichting), giving it the formal status it holds today as Stichting Regionale Gezondheidsdienst Suriname. The organisation's own website states that it has been providing care under its slogan "Zorg voor gezondheid dicht bij huis" since 1991. Around 2015, several new polyclinics were built and others were renovated, reflecting ongoing investment in the primary care network. In July 2019, the RGD opened a central pharmacy warehouse and pharmacy at Uitvlugt. In March 2020, the organisation introduced Covid-19 pre-screening in response to the pandemic. Throughout its history, the RGD has remained the principal provider of primary healthcare in Suriname's coastal plain, operating a network of roughly fifty facilities across eight districts.

• International conference on primary healthcare begins, attended by all WHO member states; provides the impetus for the RGD's creation.

• RGD established around this year under the name Regionaal Geneeskundige Dienst, as successor to the Burgerlijk Geneeskundige Dienst.

• All government polyclinics and health centres brought under the RGD.

• Name changed to Regionale Gezondheidsdienst.

• Legal form changed to a foundation (stichting).

• Several new polyclinics built and others renovated.

• Opening of RGD Centraal Apotheek Magazijn and Apotheek at Uitvlugt.

• Covid-19 pre-screening introduced.

Primary healthcare provider for Suriname's coastal plain, emphasising accessible care close to home through a broad network of polyclinics and health centres.

• Polyclinics and health centres

  Around fifty facilities in the coastal plain providing primary care.

• Medical laboratory

  Clinical laboratory testing.

• Ambulance service

  Emergency transport and assistance.

• Pharmacy

  Medication dispensing, including the central pharmacy at Uitvlugt.

• Mother and child care / consultation bureaus

  Maternal and child health services.

• School health care

  Health services in schools.

• Sexual and reproductive health

  SRH services and information.

• Emergency assistance

  Emergency service on the Limesgracht.

• Health education

  Public information on diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other topics.

1. 1RGD - Regionale Gezondheidsdienst Surinamergd.sr
2. 2Regionale Gezondheidsdienst - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Regionale Gezondheidsdienst - Wikipedia (Dutch)nl.wikipedia.org