The signing of the agreement between the Guyana and Suriname Ministries of Health will see citizens easily accessing healthcare services that may be available in one country but not the other.
On Thursday, the Department of Public Information reported that Guyana’s acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Frank Anthony, and Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation, Albert Ramdin, signed the agreement on the establishment of services in the field of healthcare.
The report said that Ministries of Health are expected to strengthen strategic collaboration, provide effective capacity building for healthcare personnel and specialty treatment for patients. The Ministries will also develop joint programmes, especially in professional healthcare and public health services, disease control, diagnostic imaging, laboratory services, pharmaceutical services and research.
It was also agreed upon that in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, they will coordinate their efforts with respective cross border diagnostics in COVID-19, contact tracing and quarantine, developing a risk communications strategy, COVID-19 awareness and COVID-19 vaccination awareness.
During his COVID-19 update on Friday, Anthony said that this agreement will also see healthcare workers being trained in areas or services that might be available in one country but not the other. Patients will also benefit from the agreement.
One service that Guyanese patients will benefit from, Anthony said, is brachytherapy. He noted that this service is not yet available in Guyana but can be accessed in Suriname and with the agreement in place, patients can have easy access.
Surinamese can also access services in Guyana that are not available in their country.
