• 2025 health sector review highlights major gains

REGION One is setting new standards in health-care delivery, with significant progress in infrastructure, staffing, and community outreach, as highlighted during the region’s 2025 Health Sector Review and Leadership Meeting.

The session brought together regional leaders and senior officials from the Ministry of Health to assess achievements, address challenges, and plan for continued improvements across the region.

Director General of the Ministry of Health, Dr Vishwa Mahadeo, along with a ministry team that included Dr Bheri Ramsarran, Adviser to the Minister of Health; Chief Medex Carleen Howard-Mohabir and programme representatives, engaged regional leadership at the RDC boardroom. Regional representation included Chairman Brentnol Ashley, Vice Chairman Paul Pierre, Regional Executive Officer Mr Seewchan, Regional Health Officer Dr Steven Cheefoon, and other health officials.

Detailed presentations outlined the region’s performance throughout 2025, as part of a nationwide review process, allowing health authorities to identify gaps, celebrate achievements, and resolve challenges, some immediately while others earmarked for follow-up.

During the engagement, the Director General commended Region One for its remarkable progress, noting that in some areas, the region has surpassed services available along the coast.

“Chairman, allow me to make one correction. You are actually providing, in some cases, a better service than the people on the coast. On the coast, you can’t get a specialist coming to your village to provide service with ultrasound, heart machine, lab tests, and all of that. In Region One, Dr. Cheefoon has successfully been doing that for at least three years. So you have actually surpassed what is happening on the coast.”

Reflecting on past challenges, the Director General highlighted the limited infrastructure and staffing shortages the region once faced.

“I remember the first time I came to Region One, there were facilities that literally had one or no staff there permanently. And one of the biggest challenges was training and getting qualified personnel.”

Through targeted investments and collaboration between the ministry and regional administration, these challenges have been addressed. A key milestone has been the establishment of a dedicated training facility, making Region One the first to institutionalise the development of healthcare workers.

“This is the first region that had a school set up physically, not that we are doing it in a boardroom or somewhere, but a building dedicated to training, and you also produced the first set of trained staff.”

The initiative has already produced tangible results, including the graduation of 62 Community Health Workers trained from within their own communities.

“You had 62 community health workers that [sic] graduated… trained from Baramita, for Baramita. So we are leaving no community behind.”

Infrastructural upgrades were also underscored, particularly the transformation of Mabaruma Hospital into a fully functional regional institution.

“When I went to the Mabaruma Hospital, you had an X-ray room with no X-ray. You never did surgeries there, you had a lab that was not even doing the basics. Between the Ministry of Health and the region, more so the region, we have allocated monies, and then the Mabaruma Hospital came to be at the level of a regional hospital, providing services with a functional lab, functional diagnostics and a functional theatre.”

The Baramita health post has evolved to a hospital, with a new facility under construction to expand services, including minor surgical procedures.

The meeting reinforced a shared commitment between the ministry and regional authorities to continue strengthening healthcare systems, improving access, and delivering quality care across Region One. The session stood as a clear demonstration of collaborative leadership, where challenges are actively addressed, and the region continues to position itself as a model for healthcare delivery in Guyana. It is all part of  President, Dr Irfaan Ali’s vision to ensure each citizen has access to world-class health care across the country.