Pandits council, Hindu group host medical outreach at Bush Lot

Doctors who participated in the Guyana Pandit’s Council and Hindu Parishad’s first medical outreach for the year at Bush Lot Village, West Coast Berbice found most of the 120 persons treated suffered ailments that were the result of poor lifestyles.

The exercise, spearheaded by Pt Rudra Sharma and other senior members of the council, saw 36 volunteers comprising five doctors: Dr Anilia Ramphal, Dr Varun Budhram, Dr Alesha Bulkan, Dr Abdool Rayaad Sabhan and Dr Carl Niamatali; pharmacists Meenakshi Baldeo and Sanjay Patel; lab technicians Amrita Umar and Zenol Agvilar and nurse Gillian Woodroofe, along with devotees from the mandir travelling to the community on Sunday, according to a press release.

It was facilitated in the building of the Vedanta Academy, a school for local children. Persons were registered and numbered then they were given the opportunity to have their blood pressure and blood sugar tested. They were then treated for various ailments and given prescription medicine, all of which was provided by the team. The team found that hypertension was the most prevalent ailment, along with influenza. Persons were also treated for back pain, diarrhoea, eye ailments, high cholesterol, diabetes, thyroid and respiratory tract infection.

Dr Niamatali said most of the ailments were related to poor lifestyles. He advised the patients that they were responsible for their own health and that they should exercise discipline and eat a balanced diet. He also cautioned young people against consuming large quantities of fast food as these sabotage health. Fast food “is cooked fast, people eat it fast, you gain weight fast and you subsequently die fast,” he said.

The team subsequently advised the patients on how they could improve their health, at the close of the programme. Several of them said they were grateful for the outreach exercise. Among them, Rookmin Singh, said she was happy that the council had made the sacrifice to travel to the area as “some persons are unable or cannot afford to go to the hospitals in Berbice.”  Headmaster of the Vedanta Academy, Vishnu Rampersaud said that he was pleased to make available the building for the exercise. He hoped that it would be held annually as the community needs this type of assistance. Rampersaud also said it was “a great example of Hindus serving humanity.” Echoing Rampersaud’s comment, Pt Indardeo Misir, of the Bush Lot Vishnu mandir also complimented the council’s Seva Group on the initiative; saying it is a good move in service to humanity.

According to the press statement, the members of the pandits council Seva group planned the exercise several months ago, after it hosted a blood drive at its Camp and Quamina streets location last year.