Dr Anthony calls for increased digitalisation of health sector

– as PAHO, IDB celebrate 5-year collaboration…

As the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IBD) on Monday celebrated five years of collaboration on information systems and digital health in the Americas, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony urged the continued use of digital tools to advance healthcare delivery in the country.
“At our core, we believe that digital health tools and platforms have immense potential to benefit the public. By optimising these resources, we can improve our chances of achieving sustainable development goals,” Dr. Anthony said in a social media post.

“Therefore, we urge developmental partners to prioritise digital health as a key agenda item for development,” he said.
Guyana has been working alongside PAHO and IDB to increase the role of technology within the healthcare system by investing in telemedicine sites and moving towards an electronic health record system. While it may be a few years before the digitisation of patients’ health records comes to fruition, several telemedicine sites have already been introduced into remote communities within Regions One (Barima-Waini), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo). These sites aim to bridge the gap between the hinterland and the coastland by allowing medical personnel in the hinterland to get real-time assistance from those working in Georgetown.
In addition to a computer connected to the internet via satellite technology, they typically include a digital stethoscope, a pulse oximeter, an infrared thermometer, a blood pressure monitor, mobile ultrasonography, exam cameras and other equipment.
“Earlier this year, an Indigenous man from a village near Gunns [in Region Nine] fell critically ill. The community health worker reached out to the doctors at Georgetown Public Hospital, who conducted a remote examination and diagnosed that the patient had sepsis with a suspected kidney stone,” Dr Anthony stated.
As the patient required urgent hospitalisation, he was airlifted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Anthony noted.
“Thanks to digital tools, this individual was able to receive timely medical attention without having to travel 100km for several days to reach the nearest hospital by foot,” Anthony referenced.
“Investing in Connected Health, which includes health information, health informatics, wearable medical devices, software as a medical device, personalized medicine, mobile health, and telemedicine or telehealth, presents an opportunity to achieve universal health coverage and to provide health for all.”

PAHO/IDB
During an event on Monday in commemoration of PAHO and IDB’s multiyear collaboration, IDB President Ilan Goldfajn further highlighted the importance of this growing partnership.
“The population of the Americas wants better public services, and health is one of them,” Goldfajn said, according to a PAHO press release. “The agenda we are building together has elements of what we believe are priorities, including regional integration, data efficiency, digitalisation, and addressing inequality,” he said.
The PAHO/IDB partnership has reportedly developed over 40 strategic actions to ensure the digital transformation of the health sector and three regional policies: a Plan of Action for the Strengthening of Information Systems for Health; a Regional Roadmap for the Digital Transformation of the Health Sector; and a policy on the application of data science in public health using artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.