Guyana’s $10,000 Universal Healthcare Voucher Programme is expanding access to medical services for citizens and providing the Ministry of Health with crucial data to identify and address prevalent medical conditions across the nation.
Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony provided the update on the sidelines of a ceremony to launch the National Suicide Surveillance System last week.
The government implemented the Universal Healthcare Vouchers Programme in 2024 to improve access to medical services for Guyanese. The initiative is progressing rapidly, with approximately 500,000 vouchers expected to be distributed by the end of the year.
Dr Anthony explained that when someone goes with the voucher to conduct medical tests at any of the 40 health institutions that have partnered with the health ministry, data is collected from those sites.
“That would give us an idea of whether or not people have various conditions. It would give us a good sense of the prevalence of those conditions. Then we would be able to work on programmes that can help to prevent some of those conditions,” Minister Anthony explained.
At the launch of the initiative, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali said the universal health voucher will help the government’s efforts to build a healthy, strong and resilient population.