500 persons treated during medical outreach in Region Nine

Over 500 persons benefited from medical services and 49 from surgical procedures, when the Regional Health Services Unit conducted an outreach exercise over the weekend at the Lethem Hospital.

Hysterectomies, bilateral tubal ligation, orthopaedic and cholecystectomies were done along with 135 ultrasounds and 48 eye screenings, a report from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.

Refractionist Tracy Semple providing eye care service to a Region 9 resident (Government Information Agency photo)
Refractionist Tracy Semple providing eye care service to a Region 9 resident (Government Information Agency photo)

This is the third outreach exercise the ministry has conducted for the year. Twelve have been planned for 2013.

A team comprising medical professionals from both the private and public healthcare system participated in the exercise.

These include Dr Fawcett Jeffery, Dr Abdulla Amin, Dr Monica Segala, Dr Shivraj Bahadursingh and Dr Rahul – a Cuban doctor, GINA said.

At the previous outreaches, 24 surgeries were conducted at Mabaruma Hospital in Region One and 17 were done at the Bartica Hospital in Region Seven.

Last year, nine surgical outreaches were held in regions One, Seven and Nine. 1,054 persons were treated and 238 surgeries were conducted.

According to GINA, the Regional Health Services is the health ministry’s largest programme.

It operates over 400 health care facilities including health centres, health posts/huts and regional hospitals.