THE Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), the Ministry of Health and a number of non-profit organisations have set a $30 million target for this year’s Pinktober.
Under the theme, ‘Many hands, Caring hearts’, Pinktober will focus on cancer awareness, specifically the importance of early testing and detection.
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, who was present at the launch of this year’s campaign at the Marriott Hotel, spoke about some of the cancer prevention initiatives his ministry has implemented and plans to implement.

One such initiative will be the introduction of telepathology.
“At the end of the year, we are introducing a new service, that is called telepathology. We are working in collaboration with Mount Sinai,” he said.
Telepathology is the practice of pathology at a distance whereby high-resolution microscopic images are sent using telecommunication links to enable the remote diagnosis of cancer.
Minster Anthony also disclosed that efforts are being made to make mammography machines more accessible.
“Last year, we did about 1,300 mammograms and that is not enough. And we recognised that is not enough because we need to have these machines strategically placed so that people could have access,” he said.

He further disclosed that an international agency has promised to deliver three mammography machines. He said that at the moment, the health sites they will be sent to are being finalised.

According to the ministry, work is also being done to shorten the wait for results.

“Up until a month ago, if you did a biopsy at the GPHC it took about three months to get back the results. I am happy to report that we have changed that to probably about 12 days.”
Improvements in screening and oncology are other areas being explored, he said.

Meanwhile, GTT’s Public Relations Officer, Jasmin Harris, said that everyone should contribute to the $30 million goal.
“Each of us contributing can help us reach our 2023 goal of reaching $30 million,” she said before explaining that the money will be distributed among various organisations that focus on fighting cancer.