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A WONDERFUL HUMAN BEING

Sep 18, 2008 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

A medical doctor does not need to consult with the Ministry of Health in advising persons as to what course of action they should take in relation to an environmental threat.

That medical doctor is duty bound to act in accordance with the oath he/she has taken to save lives and therefore is bound by political directives which would compromise the advice that is rendered.

In other words, if Doctor B. Jeffrey feels that persons affected by the Mandela Dumpsite fire should evacuate their homes, she has every right to so advise citizens without having to consult with the Ministry of Health. The doctor has to make a professional, not a political call.

It is downright presumptuous for anyone to suggest that a doctor performing a technical task should consult first with the health authorities before issuing medical advice to persons to evacuate.

It is like asking a doctor who sees a patient in critical condition and who requires immediate surgery to consult with the administrators of the hospital before referring that patient to the Operating Room. By the time that happens, the patient could be dead.

I would have no problems with any doctor who had urged all the residents affected by the smoke from the Mandela Avenue Dumpsite to evacuate their homes.

In most countries of the world, the residents would not have had to have been asked to evacuate their homes. The authorities would have forcibly evacuated them until the threat was over.

It is a sad indictment of our health system that the entire area affected by the emissions was not sealed off and residents evacuated until the threat abated.

In any developed country of the world, there would have already been a class action filed against the city council demanding massive compensation and forcing them to close the facility.

But this is Guyana, the most tolerant country in the whole world. So tolerant that people are willing to put their lives at risk rather than force the authorities to do what is right.

I am not going therefore to shed any blame whatsoever on any doctor who advised residents to evacuate.
That would have been sound advice. I am however told, and I so verily believe, that Dr. B. Jeffrey never issued any mass evacuation call or never told persons in the area to evacuate.

The doctor has indicated that she merely told those very vulnerable persons such as the sick and elderly that if they could temporarily relocate then that would be advisable.

This doctor therefore is not to blame for the misrepresentation that Stabroek News reported. The doctor is not at fault. She did not call for a mass evacuation and she did not advise people to evacuate.

She merely indicated to the vulnerable that they should consider, if they could, to move until the threat abates. Dr. B. Jeffrey is a fine young woman, someone that I admire and have the greatest respect for.

She is someone that is a role model for all Guyanese. I have seen her during the 2005 floods go through the fetid and stagnant waters on the East Coast, placing her own health at risk in order to treat and save lives. She deserved a national medal for her work during that period.

Dr. B. Jeffrey is one of the best human beings you can find in this world. She came to Guyana as a young child and despite the fact that she was born in another country, she has lived and served in Guyana for 21 years and has become truly an outstanding citizen of this country, someone that we should be proud to call our own.

This fact, I am sure, can be confirmed by at least one minister of the government who knows about the kind heartedness and dedication of Dr. B. Jeffrey.

It was, I think, disgusting for the Stabroek News to have therefore made reference to her nationality. She does not deserve that.

This is someone that this country should value. What does her nationality have to do with the fact that she visited those affected?

As indicated in yesterday’s edition of the Kaieteur News, she was visiting the residents in her capacity as head of the Public Health section of the City Council.

This lady is owed more than one apology. She is an asset to this country and I believe that she has done a great job in providing public health care to the people of this country.

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