Guyana partners with India to treat children’s heart conditions
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President Irfaan Ali of Guyana announced a program to provide critical heart operations to 27 Guyanese children with congenital heart defects before the end of the year.
Guyana is working with Apollo Health Systems of India to address a backlog of children needing specialized care. The first group of 17 children will have surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation from September 28 to October 2, and another 10 will receive operations during a December medical mission.
Approximately 40 children currently wait for cardiac surgery within Guyana’s public health system. Ali stated his government plans to treat all remaining children on the waiting list by the first quarter of 2027, eliminating the backlog. The initiative aims to ease the financial and logistical strain on families who previously needed to seek treatment abroad, with the government providing transportation and lodging for patients traveling from outside Georgetown.
Apollo Health Systems will send specialists to work with doctors at the Georgetown Public Hospital, allowing them to perform more complex cases than previous visiting medical teams could handle. Dr. Tarik Davidson, head of the Paediatric Department at GPHC, explained the team will undertake surgeries requiring higher technical skill and resources. The partnership with Apollo represents a broader effort to improve specialized healthcare in Guyana, building on previous reliance on international teams, including those from the United States.
Officials hope this collaboration will enable more procedures to take place within the country and sustain local capacity for diagnosing and treating congenital heart conditions.
