The Health Ministry signed a Service Delivery Agreement with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization on Tuesday to strengthen implementation of the Guyana One Health Project, officials said.
The agreement is financed through the World Bank's Pandemic Fund and an International Development Association credit to the Government of Guyana. It formalises collaboration between the ministry and PAHO/WHO to deliver technical activities including laboratory strengthening, disease surveillance and emergency response, workforce training, and multisectoral One Health coordination, backed by approximately US$1.78 million in funding.
The One Health Project is designed to strengthen Guyana's capacity to prevent, detect and respond to public health threats by upgrading laboratory systems, expanding disease surveillance, improving emergency preparedness and reinforcing coordination across the human, animal and environmental health sectors. It will also strengthen the country's International Health Regulations core capacities and bolster resilience against zoonotic and emerging diseases.
Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony, delivering remarks at the signing ceremony, welcomed continued support from the Pandemic Fund, the World Bank and PAHO/WHO, saying human resource development would be a critical component of the project.
"We will train and hire new people under this project because, to achieve what we intend to do, we currently do not have all the human resources that are required. This project will provide us with the opportunity to recruit and build that capacity," Anthony said.
He said that while Guyana had made significant progress in strengthening its public health system, the project aimed to transform existing systems and build greater resilience. "This technical component that we will be working on with PAHO is extremely important, and I hope that the staff and all of our partner agencies will take this very seriously," he added.
The ceremony was also attended by World Bank Country Office representative Hubert Forrester, PAHO/WHO Representative for Guyana Dr Kim Eva Dickson, and Dr Anand Persaud, technical lead for the Guyana One Health Project.