GPHC symposium spotlights Guyana’s advances in Cardiology

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) successfully hosted the 2025 Cardiology Symposium at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), bringing together leading healthcare professionals, stakeholders, and academic experts from across Guyana and the wider region, for a day of dialogue, collaboration, and innovation in cardiovascular medicine. Delivering the feature address, Honourable Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony underscored the Government’s unwavering commitment to improving healthcare outcomes, with a specific focus on strengthening cardiovascular services nationwide.
According to Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, one of the principal achievements in cardiology has been the implementation of the Healthy lifestyle counselling, Evidence‑based treatment protocols, Access to essential medicines and technology, Risk‑based cardiovascular disease management, Team‑based care and Systems for monitoring (HEARTS) programme, in alignment with recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“We currently have HEARTS operational at 221 sites across the country, serving nearly 4,000 patients. The data indicates significantly better patient outcomes when using this model compared to traditional treatment approaches,” he revealed. As part of his Ministry’s strategy to decentralise and expand cardiology services, Minister Anthony announced the establishment of catheterisation laboratories (cath labs) at three regional sites.
“This expansion will bring critical diagnostic and interventional cardiology services closer to the communities that need them most,” he stated.
Minister Anthony also stressed the importance of continuous professional development, encouraging the nation’s healthcare workers to pursue ongoing training and skills enhancement.
“We want our healthcare providers to consistently upskill themselves so they can deliver the highest standard of care to patients,” he affirmed. The GPHC Cardiology Symposium 2025 showcased Guyana’s progressive approach to healthcare delivery, and underscored the role of multidisciplinary collaboration and education in driving sustainable improvements in cardiovascular care.
In 2021, the Ministry of Health committed to reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases by adopting the Global HEARTS Initiative.
According to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), the HEARTS technical package provides a strategic approach to improving cardiovascular health, promoting the adoption of global best practices in the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and improving the performance of primary health care services through better control of high blood pressure.
CVDs, which include conditions such as heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure, are the leading cause of death in the Americas. An estimated 2.0 million people died from CVDs in 2017. Of these deaths, 30 per cent occurred in people 70 years and under. In Guyana, these diseases comprise at least 70 per cent of the disease burden, according to a 2024 PAHO news report.
HEARTS is fundamentally evidence-based practice in diagnosing and treating arterial hypertension, the Health Ministry notes.
HEARTS, PAHO notes, is being implemented and expanded in 33 countries of the Caribbean, South and Central American regions to include 6,052 health centres, which together cover approximately 39 million adults in the respective catchment areas.