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Hundreds flock Guyana Watch outreach clinic
The Patentia Secondary School on the West Bank of Demerara was yesterday flooded by hundreds of would-be patients of the Guyana Watch programme. The visiting doctors encountered cases ranging from the common cold to kidney problems as they treated and met with patients from Patentia and other far-flung West Demerara locations.
The medical team comprised one dentist, two emergency room specialists, three paediatricians and eight family doctors. The goal of these medical personnel is to treat some 3000 patients during their 10-day stay in Guyana.
“We want to promote healthy living and early detection,” said Dr Viroja, an Internal Medicine Specialist, as he took the heartbeat of one of the many patients lined up to meet with the Guyana Watch medical team.
Continuing, Dr Viroja explained that Guyana Watch had brought over US$300,000 worth of medication on their venture to Guyana. When asked what had brought him and the rest of the Guyana Watch team to Guyana, Dr Viroja explained that, as doctors, “We have an obligation to the entire society.”
For yesterday alone, the Guyana Watch team saw and treated 715 persons. This number comprises 427 adults and 241 children who had gone for medical conditions, while the Guyana Watch dentist saw 47.
Despite the limited time the clinic provided the patients, the doctors did their best; but, in the end, they referred many of the patients to local doctors, Dr Viroja explained.
One of the key figures in the Guyana Watch Programme, Roopnarine Ramkishunn, explained that he has been one of the organisers for the Guyana Watch programme for approximately four years. He became involved with the programme when Tony Yasin, one of the organisers and a friend of Ramkishunn’s, requested his assistance.
Ramkishunn took over the logistical processes because he saw it as “something good.” The programme covers a broad spectrum of illnesses, and does a lot for the citizens of Guyana, who otherwise may not have had access to healthcare services like the ones provided by Guyana Watch.
Apart from the team of doctors, Guyana Watch has some 25 local volunteers who assist the team with various activities, including the preparation of food and the cleaning of the clinic areas. Ramkishunn said that while the logistical part of Guyana Watch is an enormous effort, he “relishes the opportunity to do this (Guyana Watch),” as it gives back to the Guyanese community.
“I have been fortunate,” Ramkishunn said.
For some of the doctors, it is their first trip to Guyana. James Sadock, an Emergency Room Specialist, summarised the trip thus far as being busy, but fun. His impressions of Guyana are that, “People need better access to health care.”
He said that many of the illnesses that afflict people in Guyana are “preventable and can be controlled.” The Guyana Watch programme, Sadock noted, is evolving. He went on to say that the real challenge is to know and understand exactly how the programme could be positioned to have its fullest impact on the Guyanese population.
One of the paediatricians, Patty Vitale, another first-time visitor to Guyana, voiced her feeling that, thus far, her time in Guyana had been “amazing.”
She explained that many of the parents of the children she had seen and attended to had wanted some degree of clarification to what ailed their children. She said that she was happy to have been able to educate those parents.
She said that she had seen patients with afflictions ranging from the common cold to bladder infections.
She added that she would take pleasure in returning to Guyana next year, if she was invited.
Many of the Guyana Watch patients expressed their happiness at the presence of the medical team in their area.
One of the patients, accompanying a son, said that, “Many of de people in de area don’t get de chance fuh go to de doctor, so it good that they get de chance with these people (the Guyana Watch Team).”
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