More overseas-based Guyanese, foreigners will soon travel to Guyana for healthcare – Dr. Anthony

As Guyana’s healthcare system continues to undergo significant improvements, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony says Guyanese from broad might return home for treatment.

The minister, during his daily update on Wednesday, said over the years, many Guyanese living abroad and foreigners have travelled to Guyana for dental and other health care treatment.

He said this is because the treatment is sometimes cheaper, however, with the healthcare system undergoing major transformations, this might increase.

Among the improvements mentioned by the minister, which persons might be interested in, are the many surgeries that medical practitioners are building capacity for.

“We are improving in other areas and we have done a lot of work in terms of ophthalmology. The reopening of the hospital in Port Mourant will see lots of persons coming to get cataract surgery, lens replacement so this is something we expect that people would benefit from.

“We have been doing other sophisticated types of surgeries; we do transplants here. We were able to transplant a kidney for someone from Grenada and since we’ve done that there have been lots of queries to ask if we can do other transplants for other persons…this is something we are considering because we have the capability, we have the expertise. It is something under active consideration,” Dr Anthony said.

“I think as more time goes by, more and more people will want to come here to get those types of sophisticated surgery,” he added.

With plans to construct a children’s hospital at Goedverwagting, ECD, the minister said specialisation of treatment for children including cardiac surgery will be among the care offered.

“We will do cardiac surgery which is an improvement here because we have been sending our patients abroad, we would have the capability of handling all our cases and probably to take other cases from other places,” he said.

In addition, the minister reminded that if they have complaints about the treatment or care offered by practitioners, they can and must lodge those complaints with the relevant Councils – Dental, Medical, Nursing – and even at the Ministry of Health.

“Once you make a complaint, they are obligated to follow it and if it is a serious complaint… they can suspend medical doctors for malpractice and so forth.”