Over 86,000 children, adolescents rec’d health screenings as Mount Sinai Exec lauds “unparalleled” initiative

Expanded health services for adolescents, improved support for children with autism, and greater attention to mental health challenges are among the priorities being progressive under the Guyana-Mount Sinai National Healthcare Initiative, as executive director of Mount Sinai Rachel Vreeman, MD, has described Guyana’s child health screening programme as unparalleled globally.

The remarks were made during President Dr Irfaan Ali’s briefing on the progress of the Guyana-Mount Sinai National Healthcare Initiative during the second-quarter Steering Committee meeting at State House on Thursday.

Key pillars of the project include the upgrading of digital health services, school health programmes focused on child health screenings, and the expansion of cardiovascular and cancer treatment services. President Ali and members of the Steering Committee also assessed the implementation of future projects as Guyana continues its transition towards a modern healthcare economy.

Speaking at the meeting, Executive Director of the Mount Sinai Guyana Health Initiative, Dr Rachel Riemann, praised the country’s achievements in child health screening.

“I was just telling the President, and I tell everyone, that Guyana’s ability to move forward with this national child health screening programme is unparalleled around the world. I have not seen a single country that has been able to move forward this kind of early childhood initiative with the speed and coverage that Guyana has,” she stated.

Dr Riemann reaffirmed Mount Sinai’s commitment to partnering with the Government of Guyana to transform the country’s healthcare system.

“It’s very much our privilege to partner with the Government of Guyana and to report to President Ali on our progress in working together to transform the healthcare system of Guyana,” she said.

According to Dr Riemann, one of the most significant achievements of the initiative has been the advancement of a national child health screening programme.

“To date, more than 86,000 children and adolescents across Guyana have received health screenings assessing their dental health, vision, hearing, development, and overall physical wellbeing.”

“This is going to transform what primary care looks like for the children of Guyana and what it looks like for the health of the next generation. To have the data and the ability to respond to health issues in children and adolescents at this level is incredible. I think Guyana can be incredibly proud of what has been achieved,” she said.

Looking ahead, Dr Riemann noted that the next phase of the programme will focus on expanding services for adolescents and young people.

She explained that efforts are underway to strengthen diagnostic and therapeutic services for children with conditions such as autism while equipping Guyana’s paediatricians to become leaders in adolescent healthcare.

“We’re working to help equip Guyana’s paediatricians to be the next champions and to lead adolescent health into the future. This includes addressing mental health challenges, addressing substance use issues, and expanding the screening programmes and health services available to children and youth across the country,” she added.

Success of partnership

Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony expressed satisfaction with the success the partnership has achieved in Guyana.

Anthony highlighted the progress of the initiative, noting that it has delivered significant results for the country.

“We are happy to work along with Mount Sinai. This partnership has already given us a number of great results. Already, in school health, we have been able to screen more than 4,000 children in nursery and secondary schools, and based on these findings, we have been able to help these children,” he said.

It was also noted that work has been done in primary healthcare, with the partnership developing new guidelines and training physicians to provide improved primary healthcare services for the population.

“Already, we are seeing more people complying with the treatment, and people are staying on these treatments for longer periods. We are going to expand this into other areas such as respiratory care and kidney care. So this is an exciting time, and we continue to work with this partnership,” Anthony added.