Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony has said that over the years, capacity has increased over the years for coronary diseases with close to 600 patients receiving life-saving treatment in 2024 alone.
The Minister made these remarks while speaking at the launch of the Guyana Global Cardiology Initiative earlier this week.
While Guyana has had its challenges with cardiology care, Dr Anthony stated that the government has been working to change that over the years.
Against this backdrop, he indicated that thus far they are proud of is the increasing capacity at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
He noted that when someone comes to the emergency room with a myocardial infarction (MI) they will be diagnosed and sent to the catheterisation laboratory at the hospital and further have an angiogram done and once doctors find that there are blocked arteries, that person will be able to receive a stent.

Stent procedures are performed during angioplasty and involve the placing of a small mesh tube called a stent inside the narrowed or blocked artery to prevent narrowing.
All of this, he said, is done free of cost to the patient and they are usually able to return home in 48 hours.
“Last year that programme that we have at the GPHC, we would have seen close to 600 patients and the year before, we saw similar amounts,” he said.

This programme, he stated, has been very transformational as the country has moved from doing some 39 of these procedures in one year in 2019 to now approximately 600 with hopes to exceed this and expand.
“Starting to make these services available, it’s changing lives, it’s saving lives, and that’s the trajectory we want to go,” he affirmed.