The news that four laparoscopic procedures were performed at GPHC last week – three of them for the first time at the institution, and one for the first time in Guyana – is a signal of the massive strides that are being taken by the Government to deliver better health care to our citizens, which is one of their basic human rights. Laparoscopic surgeries are minimally invasive, in that instead of large incisions being made to open up the chest and pelvic cavities of the body to work on inside organs with scalpels, small punctures are made, and laparoscopes — thin, telescopic rods with cameras at their ends – are guided by technology that allows the surgeons to see through light fibres and perform the procedures with long, thin surgical instruments through the “keyholes”, guided by images from sonograms and MRIs. As the GPHC noted, “By embracing laparoscopic techniques, patients can now anticipate reduced pain, fewer wound complications, quicker post-operative recovery, shorter hospital stays, and a faster return to their regular lives and work routines.”
The PPP promised in their 2020 Manifesto that they would revolutionise the health of Guyanese by providing a world-class healthcare system. The annual budget for healthcare under their watch since 2020 has increased by almost 150 per cent, from $35 billion to $85 billion. They have also facilitated the expansion of the private hospitals, and a good example is the opening of the US$75M Sheriff Hospital at Leonora, WCD earlier this year. Two other facilities – in Georgetown and Berbice — are in the works. Additionally, they have upgraded the facilities in the public health system to provide better primary care access at more than 240 facilities across the country, including health centres, local area hospitals, and health posts. Hospitals at Diamond, Leonora, Mabaruma, Paramakatoi and Lethem have been converted into “smart” hospitals with modern diagnostic tools.
Last year, the Government announced that seven new regional hospitals would be constructed by the Chinese firm Sinopharm. They will be built at Anna Regina, Region Two; De Kinderen, Region Three; Diamond and Enmore, Region Four; Bath, Region Five, and Skeldon, Region Six. Each of them will be 65,000 square feet. In addition to these six regional hospitals, four main tele-diagnostic centres will be upgraded to regional hospitals in Regions One (Barima-Waini), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo). As such, the health system would become increasingly decentralized, obviating the need for individuals to be medevacked to the GPGC. A large part of the expansion is through an $835 million grant administered by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and funded by the former UK Department for International Development. At the time of the announcement last year, Government announced they would invest a record $73 billion in the healthcare industry that year, compared to $53.5 billion in 2021. A total of $1 billion has been set aside for health centre upgrades, with an extra $2 billion allocated for medical and non-medical equipment. In this year, the spending in health has been increased even further.
Key to real improvement in the health sector is the training of personnel – especially of doctors, nurses and administrators – to service the modernised infrastructure. The medical training for doctors at the UG Medical School has been augmented with several Masters Programmes and fellowships at foreign hospitals. Partnerships with such hospitals have been broadened and deepened, with local medical personnel serving stints abroad and foreign experts conducting demonstration projects locally. This was the case with the laparoscopic surgeries mentioned above. With such, interventions such as paediatric cardiac surgeries are now becoming routine. The training of nurses unfortunately has not been able to keep up with the poaching from the developed countries, which even increased salaries might not deter.
Overall, the medical delivery system the Government is shooting for is still far away. But with the political will displayed, what had been achieved in three short years, and the availability of funding from our oil revenues, it will not be long before it becomes a reality.
