Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
Guyana Watch team finds… Guyanese ignore their health
‘There is one word to describe the patients—shocking’—says doctor
As the Guyana Watch medical team continues the outreach programme across the country, it is becoming more obvious that Guyanese are not taking care of their health. This is according to the visiting doctors, who yesterday visited the Essequibo Coast, where they conducted a clinic at Aurora Village.
During that clinic, 265 persons were examined and treated by the team of visiting doctors.
However, each of the doctors had the same story to tell about the large number of persons suffering from diabetes and hypertension.
Dr. Mariela Glandt was so surprised that she told Kaieteur News that if she had to sum up her patients in one word, that word would be ‘shocking.’
“I find that the persons at this particular clinic have more serious diabetes and high blood pressure than the previous clinics…they need to change their diet and lifestyle,” the Internal Medicine doctor said.
Persons living along the Essequibo Coast were lined up at Aurora Primary School even before the doctors arrived yesterday morning.
Despite the doctors’ unhappiness with the lack of care that persons were exhibiting, residents were in high praise of the outreach.
“This is a good thing. Is years now I coming here,” one resident said.
Others expressed their gratitude to the Guyana Watch Inc. executives, who according to them are working hard to ‘help out’ persons of meagre means.
“I am not saying that we ain’t get hospitals and suh on the Coast, but this thing that them people this doing is a good thing. Me can’t afford to go to the dentist to pull out a teeth. Is nuff money,” Esther Persaud of Anna Regina Housing Scheme said.
She told this newspaper that she travelled from Anna Regina to Aurora Village, some 40 minutes’ drive, in order to get a free medical check-up.
“Me old, you know, and suh me got to make ends meet; me can’t afford to pay for everything,” the 66-year-old woman said.
The pediatricians, like the other doctors, also had a day filled with fungal infections and skin rashes among the children they examined.
Chatting and sharing out stickers to the children, the three pediatricians on the team encouraged parents to take better care of their kids.
“Persons are eating a lot of starchy foods — rice and noodles are all going to cause problems for diabetes. There is also a lot of smoking,” Dr. Heather Mahoney told this newspaper.
She noted that she, too, encouraged her patients to try more substitute ways of cooking the very foods that they eat regularly.
Like the other clinics, toothpaste and brushes were distributed to the children that visited the clinics.
Meanwhile, President of GWI, Tony Yassin, is again encouraging parents with children who have heart aliments to visit any one of the clinics.
Parents are required to take completed medicals when they visit the clinics.
The team is currently conducting its 16th annual outreach programme.
In 2008/2009, Guyana Watch projects to assist at least 25 children for heart surgeries.
The team will be at Wales Primary School today. (Tusika Martin)
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