Enjoy Guyana’s interior with confidence: easy skin protection tips for travellers and workers

(Kaieteur News) – Every week, Guyanese pack their bags and head inland. Miners set off for the goldfields, soldiers head out on duty, farmers tend their land and families make the long trip to visit relatives. The interior is woven into life and work across the country, and a new study offers a few easy ways to help people come home as well as they left.

First published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the research looks at cutaneous leishmaniasis, a skin condition spread by small sandflies that live mainly in forested areas. It is familiar to health workers across Guyana, it can be treated, and everyday precautions help keep the risk low.

“This is about helping people look after themselves while they work in and enjoy the interior,” said Dr. Rajini Kurup of the University of Guyana, who led the study. “The interior is central to so many livelihoods in Guyana. A little protection and a little awareness go a long way.”