AS Guyana’s healthcare sector continues to undergo rapid transformation, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony said the country’s progress has been driven by a strong focus on expanding medical capacity, strengthening infrastructure, and embracing modern technology to improve access and quality of care nationwide.

Speaking on the most recent episode of the ‘Starting Point’ podcast on Sunday, Minister Anthony said that the nation’s success in healthcare is owed to development in both medical capacity and infrastructure.

He explained that expansion has been seen in both infrastructure and human resources and skilled personnel.

Emphasising the importance of skilled people in the field, he added that this alone has played a major role in bolstering Guyana’s abilities in various areas and procedures.

“We have better trained people. There are procedures now that we are able to do that…We did not have the equipment nor the know-how.”

He further added that, “In terms of capacity, we have expanded that and we are decentralising. A lot of what we were doing centrally, we are now able to do in the regions because, we have that emphasis on building capacity in the regions.”

Speaking on the area of nursing, he shared that while Guyana has three nursing schools, the capacity is still limited, and they can only train an estimated 200 nurses per year. This has led the government to partner with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) collaborating centre in Brazil, the University of São Paulo, to create an Online nursing programme.

“We have registered nurses who can be trained Online, and what we have been able to do is also work with the Coursera platform. This year, in July, we would graduate about 800 registered nurses. This is a three-year programme,” he added.

Similar work is being done with doctors, as the minister cited programmes at the University of Guyana that have been expanded. “The intake used to be about 60 persons max. Now they have capacity to take in 120 persons, and we are expanding that even further,” he added.

Currently, he noted, the ministry is looking at fellowship training, post-graduate training, and having persons from across the Caribbean join these programmes.

Infrastructure, too, has played a major role in the development of the sector, Minister Anthony noted.

Citing the six recently opened hospitals, the minister said these facilities have far-reaching effects, noting that they have been vital in lessening the burden on institutions like the Georgetown Public Hospital. While these institutions are equipped with some state-of-the-art additions new to Guyana’s medical landscape, such as imaging suites with ultrasound, X-rays and CT scans, 24-hour laboratories, and new inpatient facilities, further developing access remains a major pillar.

As Minister Anthony noted, in the last two to three years, the government has added another 30 health posts across the country. Moreover, the ministry has also improved access to medication.

This, he added, is being done in an effort to bring healthcare closer to the Guyanese people.

“What we want to ensure is that wherever you are living, you can have access to medications and medical supplies.” He noted that in the past, Guyana saw less than 40 per cent coverage in this regard, but today that has shifted to more than 90 per cent.

Digitisation and artificial intelligence (AI) within the sector have also played an integral role in the development of healthcare.

Minister Anthony noted, Guyana is already well on its way with AI in healthcare, with five hospitals having been equipped with AI software to interpret X-rays.

Highlighting the impact of this, he added, “This system also has the capability of reading CT scans. It has the capability of reading MRIs. The system that we’re using is about 99 per cent accurate because it has been well trained on these different images,” he said.

With expanded training programmes, new regional facilities, improved access to medication, and the integration of advanced technology, Guyana’s healthcare sector continues to move toward a more modern, accessible system and closer to the vision of world-class healthcare.