Non-Practice of Preventative Medicine Will Have an Impact on the National Treasury-Neurosurgeon

Sep 24, 2019 News

Guyana’s first neurosurgeon Dr Amarnauth Dukhi said that preventative medicine will have an impact on the national treasury and a country’s economy, as if it is not practiced there are dire consequences to be faced at a high cost.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi.

During Kaieteur Radio’s weekly programme titled Your Health Matters on which he was a guest, Dr. Dukhi said “I think generally medicine here in Guyana, we are way back in terms of prevention. Preventative medicine is important as it will eventually have an impact on the National Treasury.”
He went on to say that the non-practice of preventative medicine will have an impact on the national treasury and the economy simply because if you can prevent something from progressing then you don’t have to treat any complications that may occur later.
Dr. Dukhi is the Head of Neurosurgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. He explained yesterday that complications costs a significant amount of money to the public health sector, in order for them to operate on someone with a brain tumour and other life threatening complications within the nervous system that can be prevented in early stages if more attention is paid to them.
“The government pays for these things in terms of buying the stuff you need to operate etcetera. Brain tumours aren’t preventable to begin with, but capturing it in a timely manner can save the patient’s life and prevent further complications,” Dr. Dukhi noted.
The neurosurgeon explained that brain tumours have different grades and he usually tells his patients that not all headaches will require a panadol and in Guyana pain killers are the first thing people reach for if their head hurts.
He advised that if you have a headache that is lasting a while and is associated with blurry vision, nausea or even feeling weak on one side of the body, you should seek some sort of medical advice.
“I have had many occasions where patients have had headaches for years and they get to me and they probably had a grade one tumour, which is the lowest on the line and now because they haven’t looked at that, the tumour has changed grade and is probably now a grade four.” He explained that the higher up in grade it goes the more cancerous it can become and difficult for not only the patient but the doctor as well.
So to keep everything in check and to avoid the extra trouble of having to go through surgery, therapy and recovery, Dr. Dukhi said, “do not take a headache as just a headache if it has any of the symptoms listed above coming along with it.” (Anasa Williams)

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