$400M-$500M to upgrade Guyana’s health-care system

Dear Editor,
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government is looking at upgrading Guyana’s health-care system, so that each Guyanese, irrespective of their community, can benefit from world-class health-care services.
This was indeed a welcome disclosure made by Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during an interview on Friday last, in which he disclosed that the Government would be investing around $400 to $500 million on public infrastructure alone, to facilitate the upgrading of the health-care system.
It is clear from the evidence in many states of the USA that a well-functioning health system, working in harmony, is built on having trained and motivated health workers, a well-maintained infrastructure, and a reliable supply of medicines and technologies, backed by adequate funding, strong health plans and evidence-based policies.
The plan to have six new hospitals being constructed across the country, including new state-of-the-art children and maternal hospital, new psychiatric hospital, and upgrades to the existing health facilities, should give every Guyanese renewed hope and the realisation that this PPP/C Government does care for the wellbeing of every Guyanese, most importantly, your children and leaders of the future.
Since assuming office in August 2020, our Government has already taken steps to upgrade the legislation governing the health sector. The Government has since presented the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Bill to the National Assembly, a revolutionary piece of legislation to enable organ transplantation in the country.
One of the most sophisticated investments we will make in 2022 is in our people’s health-care. The Government’s collaborative efforts would be focused on several strategic goals: Building healthier communities by empowering our people, and communities to actively engage in their health-care journey, focusing on improving health service delivery in our communities by harnessing digital health technologies to redesign services and models of care to be closer to home. Reducing duplication, while maximising the use of technology and strengthening the power of partnerships to ultimately build healthier communities.
It must be noted that our Government’s aim is to develop services in communities that assist in hospital avoidance and unnecessary long-distance travel. However, it is imperative that keen attention is taken to enable care in the community through changing models of care, supported by local staff linked to specialist advice, using digital health technologies. Leveraging and expanding digital health technologies will support our quest in preventing illness, reducing the burden of chronic disease management, promoting wellbeing, and enabling our communities to live a healthy and productive life across their whole lifetime.
The government is committed to working together with doctors and nurses, focusing on efforts at strengthening partnerships to leverage capacity and capability to deliver streamlined services across our communities.
While it cannot be denied that public health care delivery in Guyana has much room for improvement, equally it is undeniable that there have been unprecedented and significant improvements in recent years, particularly with respect to specialised services under the People’s Progressive Party Civic Government. But what is evident and welcome is that our Government has demonstrated an unswerving commitment to continuously upgrade and improve the quality and accessibility to health care delivery for all Guyanese.
The facts bear testimony to this with our PPP/C Government’s ascension to office following the historic October 5, 1992 election.
Our Government will continue to work persistently to strengthen and enhance the human resource capacity and management and administration of hospitals, health centres, and all other agencies associated with the health sector, through continuous training programmes, both local and foreign.
In this regard, the Cuban medical scholarship programme brokered between former Presidents Fidel Castro and Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo undoubtedly has been a tremendous boost to our public health care system. In addition, the system is further being boosted by foreign medical brigades from Cuba and China.
In recent years, an encouraging development has been the upsurge in the growth of private medical institutions in Guyana.
While these institutions have been inevitably used by the affluent sections of our society, at the same time they have reduced some of the pressure from the public health care institutions.
However, some of these private health care institutions must work towards bringing/reducing the cost of providing services, since the main goal of our Government’s health care system is to ensure that every Guyanese has access to quality health care regardless of their financial circumstances.
Finally, it is important that our Government establishes accountable and transparent governance to lead and manage priorities based on sound investment and resource allocation.
Governance of the strategy is a responsibility that must be equally understood, shared, and supported by all that enable our workforce to improve current health-care delivery approaches and embrace new ways of working as our Government connect our health system to ensure effective digital connections between systems, people and processes, while harnessing innovation to pursue technological advancements and innovation that would benefit our health system.

Sincerely,
David Adams