-by Shamiah Grant
The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, GPHC, today hosted its fourth cardiology symposium under the theme Healthy Hearts, Healthy Guyana, Advancing Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases at the Arthur Chung Conference Center.
The event brought together medical professionals and key stakeholders to strengthen collaboration, advance clinical learning, and improve patient care.
Addressing the gathering, GPHC’s Director of Medical and Professional Services, Dr. Navindranauth Rambarran, highlighted a disturbing trend and increased in sudden cardiac deaths among young people.
“Increasingly, we have seen young individuals presented with hypertension, obesity, diabetes, arrhythmias, and premature coronary artery disease.This is of concern not only from a healthcare perspective, but also from a social and economic standpoint, as these persons often are in the most productive years of their lives,” he said.
Dr. Rambaran revealed that heart disease is responsible for over 2,000 deaths annually in Guyana, with more than half of these attributed to coronary heart disease.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Health Director General Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo underscored that need for strict adherence to medical protocols and called for more healthcare professionals to specialise in cardiology to close critical gaps in care.
“We need all of you, all of us need to be educated, all of us need to know what is our role in the system to help to prevent these diseases. To help to prevent persons from dying, if not to prevent it, then at least to delay the onset of serious issues,” he stressed.
Three nurses from the cardiac catheterisation department were also recognized for their exceptional dedication, clinical competency, and professional excellence at today’s symposium.