Guyana is not all that bad

Apr 24, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – After he fell one afternoon and hit his head, Mr. Winston Murray, a former prospective presidential candidate for the Peoples National Congress Reform, was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

The prognosis according to the doctors was not good. He had suffered damage to his brain and they did not think that his chances were that good.

Rightly so, his colleagues wanted a second opinion. When it comes to making the sort of call they had to make, they would have been expected to want a second opinion and one from a specialist as that.

Arrangements were made to fly in a specialist from overseas. There were many citizens at the time who were casting aspersion on the local doctors’ prognosis. They were saying “Bring in the specialist.”

As it turned out, what the local doctors were saying was correct. The specialist came and his examination revealed that Mr. Murray’s brain was dead. He died a few weeks later.

Years ago also, there was a plane crash. One of the passengers injured his leg during the episode and was admitted to the same institution.

Not long afterwards, it was reported in the media that he was being flown out to the United States since the local hospital had indicated that his injured leg would have to be amputated. It was even hinted that everything for the medical evacuation of the man was in order to save the man’s leg.

Here again, the man’s relatives and associates were right to be concerned and to seek a second opinion. They obviously felt more comfortable making a call about amputating after they would have had specialist opinion in the United States. They cannot be faulted for that.

And so the man was flown to the United States. The doctors there came up with the same position as the local doctors: the leg had to be amputated.

There are many persons both local and overseas who like to put Guyanese professionals down. There are many persons who feel that Guyana does not have good doctors. But time and time again it has been proven that Guyana has top notch doctors who know what they are doing. Time and time again, our doctors have been vindicated.

Our hospitals may not be up to first world standards. That is to be expected in a country where everyone can still enjoy free medical care. Things are not the best but there have been tremendous improvements over the years in the local health system and this progress has been complemented by some of the best doctors available.

Yet many overseas Guyanese are fearful of bringing their children to Guyana on vacation because they do not trust the health care system. They fear that should their children fall ill while in Guyana, the treatment may not be adequate.

They should be more worried in some of the foreign capitals since even with the best of facilities there, the wait can be interminable, not to mention the cost.

The cost of medical care in the United States has caused a great many overseas- based Guyanese to come back here to look after their eyes and do their dental work.

These things can be done either free or cheaper in Guyana and a lot of those overseas- based Guyanese come here to enjoy the cheapness and the freeness.

The public hospitals are overwhelmed. Because of the improvements and the increase in the number of doctors, more and more citizens are flocking to these institutions, and many workers are going to the public hospitals simply to get a sick leave certificate to stay away from work.

Guyana has its problems and things are not always how they should be. And a great deal of criticism is in order. But there are a great many persons who get assistance each day and the system works for many.

And our doctors and medical professionals are amongst the best in the world. Guyanese have risen to the very top of their professions. In almost every field that you think there are Guyanese who have done well.

They have done well, not just because of the opportunities that they have had in the developed world. In fact, those opportunities have been earned and do not come easy since there is competition for these opportunities.

And the reason they have done well is because of the attitude towards education. This is one of the good things about educating your children in Guyana. You may not always have the best of teachers and facilities, but there is culture here of people taking education seriously and persons applying themselves. So that when the students go overseas, they apply themselves also and this allows them to succeed.

We should therefore not believe that Guyana has any second rate doctors. Guyana has some of the finest practitioners in the medical field and they practice in Guyana. And Guyanese should be grateful that so many of them are still around providing the sort of medical care that allows us to be respected.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)