AS Guyana’s legal framework continues to be enhanced, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has disclosed that three key Bills are on their way to Parliament, which will help the “building out” of the healthcare system.

President Ali made the foregoing remarks at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) where he met with many healthcare personnel on Friday last.

“The legislation that we have now in Parliament, or are on the way to Parliament, are the Telemedicine Bill, the Medicine Bill and the Public Health Bill. Those are the three Bills that will go to Parliament; they are very important in the building out of this national healthcare system,” President Ali said.

Focusing directly on how the Telemedicine Bill will serve to better the healthcare system, the President said the government is looking to link the hospitals and surgery rooms with robotic facilities outside of Guyana, so as to make sure that healthcare workers have the chance to participate in training programmes and get more familiar with various technologies that may improve their work.

“As we build out the system, we’ll move also to robotics. So that will be another area through which we want to concentrate and align training, because that is the future of healthcare delivery and the advancement of our healthcare system,” the Head of State said.

President Ali called on the health personnel to become more familiar and educated on legislation such as the Radiation Act, the Mental Health Promotion and Protection Act, the Suicide Prevention Act, the Tissue Transplant Act, and the National Data Protection Act.

“These are all new Laws and Acts that affect your professional responsibilities, and I’m asking you to read these pieces of legislation,” Dr. Ali said.
Since taking office in 2020, the government has enacted about five Bills for the health sector, including the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Bill.

That Bill, which was passed in early 2022, provides the legal framework for the removal of human organs, tissues, cells and biofluids for transplantation and blood transfusion. It notes that these transplantations are to be used in regenerative medicine like cell therapy, gene therapy and stem cell therapy among other things.

Another Bill that was passed was the Nurses and Midwives Bill 2022, which paved the way for the creation of an enhanced regulatory system for nurses, midwives and nursing assistants in Guyana.
That Bill also made way for persons to be registered and licensed before they could practise nursing, midwifery and specialist nursing.

Additionally, the government also passed the Mental Health Protection and Promotion Bill, which promotes the mental health and wellbeing of persons in Guyana, and ensures that all persons receive the best mental healthcare.
Other Bills enacted include the Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill and the Suicide Prevention Bill.