IT in Healthcare Conference: Guyana looking to partner with India in digital health services, telepathology – Dr Anthony

In keeping with its push to revolutionise healthcare service, the Government of Guyana is looking to partner with India to enhance its digital health service delivery and capacity for telepathology.
At the 2025 Transforming Healthcare with IT Conference in New Delhi, India, Guyana’s Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, was among the speakers. He highlighted Guyana’s healthcare system and the ongoing efforts to modernize it.
In particular, last year the two countries were able to sign landmark Memorandums of Understanding during India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit. Following on from those signings, Anthony was hopeful that a partnership can be advanced between Guyana and India. He mentioned Guyana’s interest in the state-run India Pharmacopeia which sets standards for drugs.
“We’ve been able to sign a number of agreements in different sectors, but more importantly we had several agreements that were signed in health. Guyana now recognizes India Pharmacopeia and we hope that with increasing collaboration, that we can look forward to collaborating in the area of digital health,” Dr. Anthony explained.

“Over the last four years or so, Guyana has been undergoing a massive transformation in its health care industry. We as a small country, the Government of Guyana provides approximately 90-95 per cent of care for the population of Guyana. And we want to ensure that our population can have access to care across the country.”
According to Dr. Anthony, access to quality healthcare should not be dependent on where someone is located. He noted that the government is a firm believer in the ability of digital health to improve quality of care and bridge geographical gaps in health care.
There is also telepathology, which makes use of digital solutions to remotely examine patients and diagnose pathology through images. While Guyana does currently have partnerships to facilitate this, such as with the United States, Anthony noted that they are willing to expand this partnership.
“Prior to introducing telepathology, it used to take us maybe about three to four months before we get the results from a biopsy sample. Now we have reduced that waiting time, to between three to seven days.”
“So, this has improved care tremendously. And we’re hoping that maybe we can partner with persons here, who might be able to provide us with the analytics for telepathology,” Dr. Anthony said.
Since 2020, the Dr Irfaan Ali-led Administration has invested billions of dollars to build the healthcare infrastructure across the country. One such investment is in the new West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH), which is being constructed to the tune of more than $11.4 billion, and will be completed in 2028.

The Government has had discussions with Northwell Health, on improving the emergency healthcare in the country. Northwell Health is a non-profit integrated healthcare service that is considered New York’s largest healthcare provider. President Ali had said they will be working on building a scalable model of revamped emergency healthcare in every region.
In addition to Northwell, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has also been collaborating with the United States (US)-based Mount Sinai Health System. With their support, Guyana will commence work this year to establish a modern oncology centre here to enhance cancer treatment and care.
The Head of State had recently disclosed that US energy major, Hess Corporation – one of the partners operating in the oil-rich Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, has agreed to continue financing Guyana’s partnership with Mount Sinai for another three years.
An oncology centre is a medical facility that specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and research of cancer. Construction of the oncology centre in Guyana will start this year, and it is slated to be completed by 2027. In addition to the oncology facility, President Ali has said that Guyana is also in discussion with Mount Sinai on rehabilitative care.