Chinese medical brigade in Corentyne outreach

Hundreds of Corentyne residents were recently able to benefit from free specialist health care when the eighth batch of the Chinese Medical Brigade conducted an outreach exercise in the area.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Health the team of 18 specialist doctors was headed by Dr Hu Yin and comprised orthopaedic surgeons, paediatricians, cardiologists, optometrists, gynaecologists, general surgeons, ophthalmologists, acupuncturists and plastic surgeons. Entire families were able to access medical care for a number of ailments and some persons were referred to the Georgetown hospital for follow-up treatment.

Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy who accompanied the team said special arrangements are being put in place to transfer some persons to the hospital. He said too the exercise is part of the ministry’s initiative to take quality health care to the people in their communities.
The release said the Chinese team usually worked exclusively from the Georgetown and Linden hospitals but the minister has begun to expand the service into various communities. The sixth batch of doctors conducted outreach exercises at Wakenaam while the last team treated persons at New Amsterdam and in Region Three. In the future, other teams will be taken to communities in regions one, seven, eight and nine, the minister said.

Ramsammy said such visits are two-fold as it also allows foreigners to better understand Guyana and to “garner a different type of experience, through working at the ‘grass root’ level with Guyanese in their communities.”

Meanwhile, Chinese ambassador Zhang Jun Gao who participated in the exercise said he was grateful for the opportunity the team had to explore Guyana. He said the team was extremely excited to participate in the exercise and had looked forward to the trip.

According to the release the eighth Chinese medical brigade is from the Jiangsu Province Hospital in Nanjing. They arrived in Guyana in June 2008 under an exchange programme between the two countries which have enjoyed more than 36 years of cooperation.

The release also said Guyana is the first English-speaking country in the Caribbean and Latin America to establish the programme with the Chinese.