Drones to be deployed soon to boost healthcare delivery in Reg 9 – Pres Ali

Within months, the Government will be deploying drones to enhance healthcare delivery across Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Essequibo). This was announced by President Dr Irfaan Ali over the weekend as he addressed residents during the commissioning ceremony of the new Karasabai airstrip. “We have already upgraded your clinic here into a full medical facility. In a few months, you will see drones leaving Lethem and landing on your airstrip if you need emergency blood or emergency medical supply,” he explained. “That is where we’re taking the country,” he added.
Earlier this year, the Health Ministry started testing drone delivery systems in Wiruni, Ituni and Malali – remote communities in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). Those test flights were designed to assess how drone technology can support healthcare delivery, particularly in remote and hard-to-reach areas, by enabling faster and more reliable transportation of medical supplies.
Regional Health Officer (RHO), Dr Gregory Harris, had welcomed the initiative, noting that it presents a practical and efficient method for ensuring essential medical supplies reach communities in a timely manner, especially where traditional access can be challenging. The use of drones in healthcare was first announced by President Ali in August 2025. He had explained that this innovative programme is set to be one of the first of its kind in the Caribbean and puts Guyana at the forefront of tech-integrated healthcare in the region.

Increased surgeries, improved access
Meanwhile, addressing Karasabai residents, President Ali detailed how his administration’s investments in the region’s healthcare systems are delivering real results for citizens of Guyana and neighbouring Brazil. “In 2020, because you did not have access to health centres, health clinics, and specialised services, only 25,000 persons were served in 2019. At the end of 2025, because of the investment we have made in this region, we have delivered health service to 62,000 persons,” the Head of State highlighted. He said this was made possible by the Government’s investment in some 22 all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), 13 ambulances, five SUVs, four minibuses, as well as canters, motorbikes, boats and engines to increase access to healthcare across the region. Training of healthcare professionals was also enhanced under his leadership, President Ali noted. “Between the period 2020 and 2025, whether in dental service, community health workers, nursing assistants, medical lab technicians, the hybrid professional nursing, nursing assistants, physician training, all these training, we, in the last five years, have trained more than 500 of your children, your citizens in Region Nine in health care services. These are the facts,” he posited. The President said a major feat for healthcare in the region is its ability to conduct surgeries at local health institutions, reducing the need for citizens to be medevacked to the capital city for care.
“In 2020, in Lethem, we did approximately 189 surgeries, most had to be medevacked to Georgetown. At the end of 2025, we did 987 surgeries here at Lethem in Region Nine. And guess what? Our service has become so good that almost 400 persons from Brazil also benefited here in Guyana,” President Ali remarked. He added that between 2015 and 2020, in Aishalton, another community in Region Nine, zero surgeries were performed. In the first quarter of 2025, a total of 15 surgeries were conducted in Aishalton. The President said similar success stories are occurring in other villages, including Karasabai. “For the first time in Karasabai, in the second quarter of 2025, we had 11 surgeries right here in Karasabai,” he noted. In providing a further breakdown, President Ali zoned in on the area of ophthalmology. He said between 2015 and 2019, there were no ophthalmology surgeries in the region whereas in 2022, 37 were conducted. This number increase over the years with 43 conducted in 2023 and 117 in 2024.
The President also outlined that under his Government, the availability of drugs in the region was significantly increased. “Between 2015 to 2019, under the APNU/AFC (A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change) Government, availability of drugs in this region was 45 per cent. Today, in this region, we have more than 90 per cent availability of drugs,” he noted. In fact, he contended that “people used to die because they did not have access to vaccines”. Today, in addition to having more vaccination sites in the region, the Government has also invested in cold storage units for the doses. President Ali highlighted that his Government also invested in oxygen generation in the region, another boost for Region Nine healthcare. “Between 2015 to 2019, we had zero capacity, zero cylinder of oxygen could be produced here. My friends, at the end of 2024, 1,050 small cylinders and 2,100 large cylinders of oxygen was produced right here in Region Nine,” he outlined. According to President Ali, healthcare was also boosted through the Government’s investment in telemedicine. A total of 130 sites have been set up across the country and the Ministry of Health has already said it plans to develop 50 additional locations in 2026 as part of the Government’s continued investment in modernising and strengthening healthcare delivery across Guyana.