Peeping Tom…Watching over your health

Jul 21, 2008 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Guyana Watch has long established itself as the foremost medical outreach program in Guyana.
There is simply no other outreach that has had the sustainability, reach and success of Guyana Watch.
The group is now on its sixteenth annual mission to Guyana, a record that speaks for itself. It has not missed a year since it started.

Its clinics attract a huge number of Guyanese, all of whom leave satisfied by the level of service offered by the doctors on the team, who are brought from overseas for each mission.

The live-wire behind the Guyana Watch mission to Guyana is its Chief Executive, Mr. Tony Yassin, someone who needs no introduction to Guyana.

He is not one to crave the limelight, but he has, over the years, been one of Guyana’s outstanding philanthropists. He has a heart as wide as the mouth of the Essequibo River, and is one of the most generous individuals you can ever meet; and a special one at that, since he has never sought recognition from the countless individuals he has helped over the years.

As it has done throughout the years, the Guyana Watch team will once again be helping thousands of Guyanese to get better. For many of these patients, the Guyana Watch mission is a God-send.

Guyanese rush to the clinics, which are held in various parts of the region, not just because they have confidence in foreign doctors. Guyanese turn up in their numbers for treatment, because they are generally discouraged by the level of service provided by Government medical clinics, which are often understaffed and short on medical supplies.

They also flock the Guyana Watch clinics because they know that they will enjoy courteous service from trained professionals who see themselves as servants of the people, unlike some of our local doctors who wish to adopt airs about them.

Many of those who turn up to attend the clinics can relate stories of frustration and poor service provided by the public health system in Guyana.

This is especially so in rural areas where, as the team is discovering, there is a need for persons to see their doctors far more regularly.

The Guyana Watch is thus filling a void within our public health system which has had quite a few nightmare stories.

Already, the team has identified poor lifestyles as one of the main factors contributing to the poor health of many of our citizens.

This is an area that needs greater attention by the authorities, since they need to do much more to encourage healthy eating and physical activity amongst our people. I am sure that, as the team moves around to other parts of the country, they will be warmly welcomed, since they are providing a much-needed service.

I have always said that there is a great deal of goodwill for Guyana within the Diaspora. This goodwill needs to be tapped so as to bring greater benefits to our people.

The Guyana Watch team is just one of the many ways in which Guyanese overseas are bringing assistance to this country. 

We can do much more to involve Guyanese residents in foreign lands, along with their descendants, to do much more for Guyana.

The Guyana Watch mission is a good model for other groups to imitate. It is not a one-off exercise. In fact, it has been going nonstop for sixteen years and deserves to be granted a national award.

Secondly, it mobilizes the skills of Guyanese and professionals in the United States who are willing to come on such humanitarian missions.

It also assists with providing medicine for the treatment of patients. Guyana Watch also helps patients who need follow up treatment overseas.

I wish, as I have done so often in this column, to express my appreciation to the team for the wonderful work they are doing in Guyana. I know that, through their interventions, they will assist thousands of Guyanese and save quite a few lives.

I say, on behalf of the tens of thousands of Guyanese who have been assisted over the past sixteen years, a special thank you to Guyana Watch. We look forward to your continued assistance.

To Tony I want to make a special recommendation. On your next mission, I would like you to arrange for a special free day for your team. On that day they should make an unpublicised visit to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where they should volunteer their services at the outpatient and emergency units.

I can tell you, for the hundreds of Guyanese who have to sit in those departments each day waiting for hours just to see a doctor, that the presence of extra help in the form of doctors and medical personnel from Guyana Watch would be extremely appreciated.

But please remember: do not advertise that you will be at the Georgetown Hospital. If you do, the place will be swarmed by thousands seeking the top-class service that Guyana Watch has provided to Guyanese for the past sixteen years.

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