President Dr Irfaan Ali on Wednesday announced that Guyana stands ready to assist the Caribbean in the areas of telemedicine and the implementation of artificial intelligence in healthcare delivery.
He made the remarks whilst addressing the opening ceremony of the 70th Annual CARPHA Health Research Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Guyana.
“Today, in Guyana, we’ve embraced telemedicine because of our geographic layout and we’ve already seen great success, we’ve seen lives saved, we’ve seen need for medical evacuation reduced and we’ve seen greater support by specialist staff to others in hinterland and remote areas. I think, per capita, we may have the highest telemedicine reach maybe globally but definitely in this region and we’re ready to deploy this investment for the rest of the region,” the Head of State noted.
Launched in 2022, Guyana’s telemedicine programme connects remote hinterland and riverine communities with specialists, rapidly expanding to roughly 130 sites by early 2026. The initiative uses real-time video, audio, and diagnostic tools to improve healthcare access, supported by a digital health records system and training for local health workers.
The government plans to develop 50 more sites this year.
According to President Ali, his government is ready to work with the rest of the region in rolling out this initiative, with Guyana as a hub.
“We’re 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 care, research or educational purposes,” he said.
President Ali also spoke about his government’s investment in utilising artificial intelligence in healthcare, specifically in diagnostics. He noted that Guyana is also willing to share its experience in this area with the rest of the region.
He explained that, “historically, maybe it took us a day to organise a scan and then a day to read the scan. Today, we can get that scan done and get it read and evaluated within three minutes with AI. We have bought into that technology that allows us to do that here in Guyana and we’re ready to scale that up with the rest of the region. We’ve already implemented it in four of our facilities and we would love to share that experience with you.”
One of the locations where this technology is being utilised is at the Enmore Regional Hospital on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).
Speaking during the opening of the Enmore Regional Hospital in July, President Ali had spoken about the need to deploy advanced technology in healthcare. “Guyana will emerge as a regional leader in smart care health services through a bold and forward-thinking health agenda. The country is rapidly integrating digital technology into public health infrastructure. We’re ushering an era where data driven decisions, telemedicine, electronic health records and AI-assisted diagnostics are no longer futuristic ideas, but everyday realities,” he had posited.
President Ali had previously announced that this year, Guyana will break new medical ground with the nation’s first robotic-assisted surgery. The breakthrough will see highly specialised surgeons based in the United States performing procedures in Guyana using advanced robotic technology.
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