Caribbean countries can pool medical expertise, resources to advance regional healthcare – Dr Anthony

Guyana’s Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, who is also the Chairman of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), has called for Caribbean countries to pool their medical expertise and resources in order to advance regional healthcare systems and improve outcomes for citizens across the region.
As individual member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) continue to make advancements in speciality healthcare, Dr Anthony emphasised that regional systems can be strengthened by pooling medical expertise and resources to deliver more efficient, accessible, and high-quality care across the region.
He made these remarks during the 37th COHSOD meeting on Tuesday.

“While we have CARICOM as the regional organisation, I think a lot of times it’s driven by the aspirations of the member states – what member states want. But I think sometimes what we need to look at is how we want to move as a region. We have to get all these different electronic health records in different countries talking to each other. That way, you’ll have portability of data,” Dr Anthony stated.
Member states across the region already share common systems, including electronic health records, joint disease surveillance mechanisms, and coordinated public health reporting systems, among others, which can be further strengthened through greater cooperation.
He added that digital health is just one example of the opportunities available for regional collaboration, noting that Caribbean countries must begin identifying areas where they can work together more effectively to strengthen integration across the region.
Further, the Minister related that discussions have revealed that while different countries possess varying capacities, these resources are not being adequately utilised, underscoring the need for better coordination and shared use of expertise.
One major way he foresees Guyana assisting in this vision is through its newly developed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) testing capability.
Guyana is the first country within the Caribbean region capable of performing HLA testing, a specialised form of laboratory testing that is not yet widely available in other regional territories.
“Nobody in the Caribbean is doing HLA testing, and so transplant programmes in the Caribbean don’t have to send their testing to Miami or elsewhere. We have now developed that capability in Guyana. We have all the equipment, and we are testing for our own programme. If there are other programmes in the Caribbean that need us to test for them, then we are very much capable of doing that. There are many other ways that we can collaborate.”
Meanwhile, the Health Minister also underlined the importance of biobanking.
Biobanking is the systematic collection, processing, and storage of biological samples for use in medical research and healthcare development; however, this can be further expanded across the region to support advanced diagnostics, research collaboration, and improved treatment outcomes.
“That’s the future… What we are trying to do is start simply with biobanking, but we want to evolve it to a level where we can have the convergence of what we are seeing in biology and match that with computational science, which allows us to make better diagnoses. Rather than spending 10 to 15 years developing one particular medicine, that can be shortened to three or four years.”
“So you’re gaining a lot of time while making precision medicine that can help to alleviate people’s conditions. That’s where we want to go, and that’s why we believe it is important for people in the Caribbean to start thinking about this. Then we’ll see how we can grow this area together.”
Meanwhile, Dr Frank Anthony explained that Caribbean countries can benefit from sharing specialised medical capabilities rather than each nation attempting to develop all services independently. He noted, for example, that Jamaica may have capacity in neurosurgery, while Trinidad and Tobago may be better equipped for paediatric surgery, allowing for a more coordinated and efficient regional approach.
He added that Guyana also possesses capabilities that can be shared, highlighting the country’s growing kidney transplant programme. However, he pointed out that compatibility testing for organs has traditionally required samples to be sent overseas, such as to Miami, underscoring the need to build and utilise regional capacity in this area.