THE delivery of quality health care to the Guyanese people will be given a major boost with the construction of six new hospitals in several parts of the country. This is in keeping with a commitment made by President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali to provide a world-class health care delivery system second to none in the Caribbean.

In keeping with that commitment, a five-acre site has been identified for the construction of a new multi-million modern hospital at Anna Regina, Region Two. As it currently stands, the health care needs in the region are being met by the Suddie Hospital and a cottage hospital at Charity, which catered for the needs of the riverain communities along the Pomeroon River. There are supplemented by several health centres throughout the region. The more difficult cases are being referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), which is the only referral hospital in the country.

The construction of the new hospital at Anna Regina, as pointed out by Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony, will help to reduce the work load from the Suddie and Charity hospitals and also minimise the need for referrals to the GPHC.

According to Minister Anthony, the new health facility will have about 25 in-patient beds and modern accident and emergency departments and will also provide a range of other services, including digital x-rays, CT scans and imaging. There will also be two modern operating theatres in addition to a minor theatre.

This is indeed a commendable move by the PPP/C administration to bring quality health care to the Guyanese people. Similar health institutions are earmarked in this year’s national budget for Diamond, East Bank Demerara; Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo; Bath Settlement on West Coast Berbice and No. 75 Village in Region Six.

The health infrastructure in the country is undergoing significant upgrading of existing facilities and the conversion of several of these into smart health facilities. It would be recalled that it was under the PPP/C administration that a number of diagnostic centres were established in several regions which were fully operational with the assistance of medical personnel from the Cuban Government.

There can be no doubt that the quality of health care has improved considerably since the PPP/C administration came to power on October 5, 1992. Guyanese can still remember the days when there were shortages of hospital beds, resulting in patients having had to share beds.

There was a case of a child who was bitten by a rodent whilst a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital. This episode may seem anecdotal, but it serves to highlight the state of deterioration of the health sector under the PNC regime. Shortages of basic drugs and medical equipment were all too frequent.

The former PNC now APNU+AFC administrations had a dismal record when in office in terms of heath care to the Guyanese people. By now, Guyanese would have benefited from a state-of -the art speciality hospital, had the project not been aborted by the then Granger administration. In fact, preparatory works had already commenced. The construction of a speciality hospital would not only have provided specialised care for patients, but would have also created opportunities for medical tourism.

In addition to boosting the public health care delivery system, attempts are also being made to ensure public-private-partnerships. In October 2021, a U.S.-based group met with President Ali with a view to plugging U.S.$250M into the tertiary health sector. There is also interest from the British and Austrian governments in relation to building hospitals that specialise in paediatric and maternal care. In addition to that, there are at least six other proposals from the business community to develop private health care facilities. A delegation from Mount Sinai International was also in the country in November last year, with a view to assisting the country in defining a plan in the development of a more sophisticated system of health care delivery.

The upgrading and modernisation of the health care system is all the more necessary as the country becomes an attractive tourist destination and greater inflows of foreigners to the country. But at a more fundamental level, it is an attempt to democratise the delivery of quality health care to all Guyanese, regardless of their economic or social standing in society. It is a known fact that the quality of care at private hospitals tended be better than what obtained at the public hospitals. The PPP/C administration must be given credit for lifting the standard of health care to the citizens of Guyana; and even though more remains to be done to bring it on par with international standards, there can be no doubt that the country is making great strides  in that regard.