Guyana is positioning itself as a regional leader in digital health with plans to developing a telemedicine hub aimed at supporting healthcare delivery across the Caribbean.
The announcement was made by President Irfaan Ali on Wednesday during the opening of the 70th annual health research conference hosted by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Georgetown.
President Ali said Guyana has already recorded strong results from its use of telemedicine, particularly in improving access to specialist care in hinterland and remote communities and reducing the need for medical evacuations.
“Today in Guyana, we have embraced telemedicine because of our geographic layout and we have already seen great success. We have seen lives saved. We have seen a need for medical evacuation, reduce, and we have seen greater support by specialist staff to others in the hinterland and remote areas,” he said.
He said the country is now prepared to scale up the system across the region through partnerships.
“We are ready to deploy this investment for the rest of the region.
We are ready to partner with the rest of the region in creating a telemedicine hub here in Guyana to support the rest of the region, whether it’s for clinical career care, research or educational purposes,” President Ali said.
He also highlighted the growing use of artificial intelligence in Guyana’s health sector, noting that diagnostic turnaround times have been significantly reduced.
“Today we can get that scan done and get it read and evaluated within minutes. With AI, we have bought into the technology that allows us to do that here in Guyana,” he said.
The telemedicine initiative forms part of Guyana’s broader effort to modernise healthcare delivery and expand access to services, particularly in remote regions.
