A quantum leap in healthcare delivery

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor,

All things being equal, the health of Guyanese will be better taken care of, in about two years’ time, when a US$20 million specialist hospital will become operational, Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy has promised.

This is good news, as I know what it means to have a specialist health institution in our very own Guyana.

I believe that having such an institution would save the Guyana government millions of taxpayers’ dollars, which are spent every year when patients are required to travel abroad for specialised surgery and other treatments. In the past, this had really put a dent in the budget of the health sector and Guyanese at large who, from time to time, are called upon to assist in funding patients who need medical treatment abroad.

Editor, I also see this new hospital initiative adding a new dimension to our tourism industry, as health tourism would soon come into play.

By health tourism, I mean that there might be people who live in North America and Europe, for instance, who have certain health conditions that would require specialist treatment; but because of the cost factor, rather than having the condition treated in those countries, those patients would prefer to receive the same treatment at a lower cost in other countries where the treatment is available.

I think this is a bold and excellent initiative, and the Health Ministry should go right ahead with its plans to have this specialist hospital up and running, in the interest of the entire nation. With such an institution in place, we have all to gain and nothing to lose.

Yours cooperatively,

S M Khan

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