‘Guyana has lost a genuine national asset’- Health Ministry on death of Dr. Roach

The Ministry of Health has expressed condolences on the passing of Dr Colin Roach who was found murdered at his Clinic on Tuesday night. Dr. Roach operated the International Medical Clinic located in a three-storied building at Lot 111 Duke Street, Kingston Georgetown by one of his employees.

The Ministry in a statement on Wednesday said “Guyana has lost a genuine national asset. Guyana has lost one of its young, but experienced doctors. Significantly, our country has lost one of its most experienced Biomedical pathologists.”

According to the statement, the medical practitioner was part of the pioneering team that began revolutionizing laboratory science in Guyana and was a leading member of the team that began the transformation of manual procedures to automated technology.

Further, he worked with the Ministry to establish the National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL), and led the technical team under the then Minister of Health that put together the plan. He was appointed the first Director of the NPHRL and later as a Consultant to the United States (US) Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

The Ministry said Dr. Roach pioneered PCR (DNA) testing in Guyana, and at the time of his death, he was in close discussion with the MOH as the MOH begins a new era of transformation for chemical pathology.

The Ministry expressed deepest condolences to the family and friends of Dr Roach.

Police have since taken two male employees of the Clinic in custody.