“Nothing to fear about having a prostate examination” – President Ali tells men

…dialysis services to begin at Lima Hospital within 7 days

President Dr Irfaan Ali is assuring men that there is nothing to fear about undergoing a prostate examination, rather he noted that this screening could potentially save their lives. “Men, there is nothing to fear about having a prostate examination. It will save your life… This is a type of cancer most prevalent among men in Guyana – number one, that is completely treatable with early detection,” the Head of State said on Saturday. He was at the time delivering the feature address at the commissioning of a new drug bond at Onderneeming on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon). A prostate examination, which includes a blood test and a digital rectal exam, checks the prostate gland to find early signs of cancer or enlargement. According to the Head of State, the Government is unsatisfied that only 335 men have been scanned across the region, while the facility is available there to conduct the screening. To this end, he instructed the Regional Health Officer (RHO) on the Essequibo Coast to ensure they ramp screening. “The RHO, before the end of this year, must ensure at least 3,000 men are scanned. [You have to do] the public awareness. You have to go to the communities, you have to reach and educate the people and get them so that they can be scanned,” the President ordered. Similarly, he directed that the same approach be taken for women. Ali pointed out for the first time now; mammograms are now available in Region Two. A mammogram is a low-dose X-ray picture of the breast to detect early signs of breast cancer. So far, more than 435 mammograms have been conducted and the Government is looking to increase this number by year end. In fact, the Guyanese Leader underscored the importance of early screening in providing better treatment for breast cancer.

Early detection
“Early identification decreased the risk of the cancer being fatal. It increased the chances of survival and increased your ability to fight that cancer. But this requires early screening,” he noted. Currently, a mammogram costs approximately $40,000 to do independently, money that women can now save with the free service the Government is offering on the Essequibo Coast. “That is the type of investment that we are making,” the Head of State declared. President Ali has since put Senior Presidential Advisor on Science and Healthcare Modernisation in Guyana, Dr Mahendra Carpen, in charge of a public campaign in Region Two to promote early cancer screening among women. “I want Dr Carpen to return to Essequibo to lead a public campaign among women to have you screened because we have the facility here now. So, by the time I come back here in December, we must have at least 3,000 women screened and have their results. That is the target we must work on,” the President noted. According to the Guyanese Leader, the Government has to meet these targets if it wants to get the kind of results that are reflective of the investments that are being made in the healthcare sector. Additionally, Ali said that as a result of continuous training, within seven days there will be dialysis chairs at Lima Regional Hospital. “So that we can have within a week’s time, dialysis available at Lima Hospital. And I am told that you have about 12 patients in the region. Those are 12 persons who will go now to Region Three or Region Four,” the Head of State said. In Essequibo, healthcare delivery was significantly transformed following the commissioning of the $6.6 billion Lima Regional Hospital in August 2025. This 75-bed state-of-the-art facility provides free access to surgeries, maternity care, CT scans, and dialysis, among many other critical services to citizens across the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region. Since the opening of this new hospital, over 500 CT scans have been done in the last six months alone and more than 800 x-rays completed. Region Two has also benefitted from over 18,000 eye care vouchers for adults and another 12,000 vouchers for children. “These are the real investments we are making in real people in this country. And in this region alone, think about it, just for the eye care voucher, 30,000… More than 10,000 of the vouchers for lab tests in addition to what we are offering [freely],” the President stated.

No three-month wait
Meanwhile, the Head of State also used the opportunity to address an issue that has been affecting healthcare workers, payment of salaries. Stressing the importance of workers to the entire healthcare ecosystem, President Ali declared that staff should no longer have to wait three months to get paid in any sector.
“I hope that by today all those who had outstanding payment issues that you would’ve received their salaries or advances on your salaries… I’ve given specific instructions on this matter because we believe in honouring our labour. And part of honoring our labour is to ensure an efficient system. The old system of the public service of waiting three months to have your payment, we have to get rid of that system. We have to create a new paradigm in the public service – one that is people-centred, people-focused and service-oriented. And that is what we are about,” President Ali stated.