Guyana: Health Minister attends President’s College graduation ceremony

Guyana: Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, attended the graduation ceremony held for graduates of President’s College who wrote and succeeded at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency (CAPE) examinations on November 2, 2022 (Wednesday).

The batch of 97 students was congratulated and awarded for their outstanding performances by the Health Minister on behalf of the President of Guyana, Dr Irfaan Ali. During his feature address to the graduates, Dr Anthony encouraged them to continue studying, especially in the science field, since the Ministry of Health (MOH) is partnering with other agencies to integrate in-depth science programs and will need Scientists to pioneer the programmes. He added that the Ministry will soon be launching programmes that will sustain the development of Stem Cell Therapy and Regenerative Cell Therapy.

“Think about going into the University, whether locally or abroad, so that you can continue your education. We want to see from this cohort many people getting their Masters, PhD and many people to become pioneers in these new fields that we are talking about.”, Dr Anthony said.

The Health Minister informed that recently a bill was tabled in the National Assembly, which allows for transplants to be performed in Guyana. He said that it had been a successful journey thus far. “To date, Guyana has completed over 100 Cornea transplants, and very soon, an Eye Bank will be established in Guyana, and this initiative will enable people to donate their corneas”, he said.

He further stated that Guyana’s National Reference Laboratory located in Georgetown is now equipped to perform sequencing with the Malaria parasites. Authorities are also exploring the option of converting the sequencing machine to one that performs sequencing for the COVID-19 virus, which will help in ascertaining which variant is circulating.

Regional Chairman for Region Four, Daniel Seeram; Attorney-at-law, Dr Kim Kyte-Thomas; Representative from the Board of Governors, Omadatt Chandan; PTA Chairman, Wilfred Collins, Ms Sandra Persaud, Representative from the ACEO Secondary and other officials from the President’s College were also present at the graduation ceremony.