Guyana, Canada consider joint effort to develop COVID-19 tracking app
Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee and Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony have held discussions about the development of an app that will greatly assist in tracking COVID-19 patients.
The Health Minister said the app will also improve the capacity of Port Health Department officers who are stationed at the respective ports of entry. This, he explained, will help with more effective surveillance of persons coming into Guyana.
Canada is also committed to providing other technical assistance in the health sector. Dr Anthony further stated that support is also needed in updating several Acts relating to the health sector, such as the Public Health Act and the Food and Drug Act.
The opportunity also exists for technical assistance for the development of a new strategic plan for the Ministry of Health, the development of Guyana’s research capacity, and the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) and trans-medicine.
Among the other topics discussed were Canada’s support of Guyana’s response to the COVID-19, private sector interests coming out of Canada, collaborations with Canadian based medical teams, and SMART hospitals.