Parliamentary lead of A Partnership for National Unity, Dr. Terrence Campbell, called out the Government on Thursday evening for what he sees as a deliberate attempt to undermine the country’s healthcare workers, pointing to reports of plans to hire foreign nurses from Bangladesh.

Beyond that specific issue, Dr. Campbell said the importation of labour also seems like a plan to change the demographic of the country, which he said the APNU will firmly oppose.

Contributing to the 2026 Budget Debates, Campbell said local nurses have been leaving the country in large numbers, and he believes the Government is directly contributing to the hemorrhaging, by not putting measures in place to address the concerns of health workers.

“Mr. Speaker, there is a nefarious plan of this government to get rid of the local nurses and to bring Bangladeshi nurses. Mr. Speaker, it is not last one me, that a 150 Bangladeshi voted in the national elections at Ogle, and it is because of this importation the Bangladeshi government say they are going put a High Commission in Guyana to explore the Labour market sir,” Campbell said during his debate.

He said while Government continues to boast that it continues and will continue to build Regional hospitals while there is a nurse shortage in the country.

“You have less nurses and yet you are building more hospitals so I know your answer, you say that you will train 5,440  and allied health professionals, but this government has a problem, it does not like to disaggregate date sir, so how many allied health professionals and how many nurses and then the Minister said they will bring in 6,000 nurses, where are you recruiting them from,” Campbell questioned.

Mr. Campbell said he believes that government should sit with local nurses and iron out existing issues so they can retain who are here and encourage those who have migrated to return.

“Mr. Speaker, bringing foreign nurses to this country while chasing our own out is not putting our people first, we must put our people first and there is no way foreign nurses will take care of us as our own will do,” Mr. Campbell noted.

Dr. Campbell said the country’s health sector must be transformed, noting that many health facilities are still faced with the issue of expired medications and shortage of medication.

He recommended a national health service where every citizen has access to a general Health Partners at least once a year for a comprehensive health check.

Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony said the Government of Guyana is not involved in the hiring of nurses from Bangladesh.

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