The Ministry of Health yesterday announced a new partnership with the radiology nonprofit organization, RAD-AID Inter-national, to expand and improve radiology capabilities and services throughout the country.
A release from the Ministry said that the collaboration entails the expansion of medical imaging equipment, Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS), electronic health interconnectivity, community outreach, as well as clinical education for nurses, technologists and physicians.
The release said that the partnership builds upon RAD-AID’s work since 2017 to establish Guyana’s first radiology residency at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), which recently saw the graduation of the first class of in-country trained radiologists. Over the last four years, the release said that RAD-AID also implemented and supported new computed tomography (CT) services and PACS at the GPHC, New Amsterdam and Bartica Hospitals, along with training of physicians, nurses and technologists for IV contrast procedures, radiologic/ultrasound image-quality, patient-safety, and women’s health outreach (with support from Ambra Health, Philips, Bayer and Google Cloud). During the COVID-19 pandemic, RAD-AID also upped remote teaching and clinical support to Guyana’s hospitals, and delivered medical imaging artificial intelligence implementation and training (with support from Densitas, Koios Medical, and Qure.ai).
The release said that the Ministry and RAD-AID aim to leverage these achievements to boost health care resources in Guyana’s “low-resource hospitals and facilities”. The release added that the Ministry is working with RAD-AID to broaden healthcare accessibility among medically underserved communities, accelerate technology adoption for modernizing the country’s health information platforms, and connect tertiary care institutions with regional and district health facilities.
“Radiology (Imaging diagnostics) is a critical part of quality medicine. With this collaboration, we seek to elevate both technology and human resource capacity throughout the country, bringing better health care to people” said Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Guyana’s Ministry of Health for advancing radiology health services and capabilities in Guyana,” said Dr. Daniel J. Mollura, Founder and CEO of RAD-AID.
Mollura added: “This new partnership will en-able RAD-AID to extend the progress at GPHC, New Amsterdam, and Bar-tica Hospitals, to other health institutions throughout Guyana. We look forward to strengthening technology, innovation, and education for Guyana’s health workers and patients.”
The release said that the Ministry intends to have state-of-the-art X-rays and other imaging diagnostics, such as CT, MRI and Ultra Sound more accessible in all regional hospitals. Further, it is also phasing out the need for imaging films and use of chemicals which constitute an environmental hazard.
RAD-AID International consists of over 14,000 volunteers and +80 university-based medical center chapters and operates global health outreach programmes in 38 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the release added.
