-says President Ali

TELEMEDICINE, which was implemented in December 2022 by the Ministry of Health, has managed to save two lives in Masakenari (Gunns Village), South Rupununi, Region Nine, according to President, Dr Irfaan Ali.

This was disclosed during his address at the launch of stem cell and immunotherapy services at the Woodlands Hospital on Saturday.

He related that upon returning from India, a group of persons came to him to thank the Ministry of Health and the Government of Guyana for the implementation of telemedicine.

“I was very pleased when a group of persons came to me just as I returned from India and said Mr President, I want to thank the Ministry of Health and the government for implementing that telemedicine operation…since the implementation two lives were already saved,” he stated.

He noted that there was a medex connected to specialists in Georgetown who were listening to everything as if that patient was present at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

In 2022, a Rural TeleMedicine Clinic was launched in Gunns Village. Through this initiative which is a collaborative effort with US company 19Labs, community health workers have gained access to expertise from doctors and specialists in Georgetown via tablets and other electronic devices.

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said this forms part of the government’s commitment to bringing access to health care closer to residents in rural communities.

Gunns Village is one of four communities in Region Nine benefitting from the initiative.

During the recently concluded 2023 budget debate, Minister Anthony had disclosed that as part of the telemedicine programme, the MoH will be expanding the tele-diagnostics programme, while expanding the existing teleophthalmology and teleradiology programmes. Teleophthalmology is now available at several sites across Guyana.

A massive $84.8 billion budget for further advancement of the health sector was allocated in Budget 2023, and some $1.8 billion will go towards the rehabilitation, expansion and reconstruction of the Georgetown, New Amsterdam and Linden Hospitals, as well as four telemedicine centres in Regions One (Barima-Waini), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine.