THREE officers from the Ministry of Public Health will be representing Guyana for the first time this year at the Caribbean Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Congress.

The congress, to be held under the theme, “Accessibility in Broader Perspective,” is being held at the Santa Barbara Beach and Golf Resort, in Curaçao, from September 28 to 30.
Senior physiotherapist from the Palms Rehabilitation Department, Barbara Lawrence, told the Guyana Chronicle that the local team, comprising one doctor and two physiotherapists, are looking forward to the high-level presentations that will be made at the congress.
The congress is divided into three areas, namely, accessibility to inclusion (policy); accessibility to appropriate health care (medical); and accessibility to a positive attitude (social).

The target audience includes policy makers; service providers; insurers; disability and development actors; people with SCI and their families; media; donors; practitioners; academics and the Caribbean Community.
The advocacy foundation in Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean, the “Fundashon Alton Paas (Alton Paas Foundation)” is working to bring awareness of this topic in the Caribbean for a better quality of life for people with spinal cord injury.

Based on the possibilities for developments and the facts in growth of the population with spinal cord injury, ‘Fundashon Alton Paas’ and the Curacao Rehabilitation Centre have partnered together to organise the Third Caribbean SCI Congress.

The congress has the aim to unite the Caribbean islands and spotlight accessibility from a broader perspective. Its purpose is to share information about spinal cord injury in the Caribbean and how the islands can work together to raise living standards.
Meanwhile, back in 2017, Lawrence and her team from the Palms Rehabilitation Department became aware that an entire month has been designated for spinal cord injuries.

ROBBERY VICTIM
Thirty-one-year-old Suzana ‘Suzan’ Da Silva experienced major life changes, when she was shot during a robbery back in 2014 that resulted in damage to her spinal cord and a life of being in a wheelchair permanently.
It was “devastating” to her when she realised the seriousness of her injuries, and after receiving therapy overseas and returning to Guyana, she decided that it was time for her to raise awareness among persons here who are suffering like her.
It was then that she made contact with Lawrence who immediately organised an event at the Regency Suites Hotel to help Suzan’s cause. By the time Suzan contacted Lawrence, the month of September was already half gone, but Lawrence was nevertheless determined to do a workshop to help raise awareness.

“She was the one who brought it to our attention, because we were not even aware that there was a month designated for spinal cord injury,” Lawrence told the Chronicle.
“She called and asked us if we can support her in terms of raising awareness, because a lot of persons have such injuries but are just hiding away at home,” Lawrence said.
“At the Palms, we see spinal cord patients. Most of them will not walk again, but what we aim to do is help them get independent at a wheelchair level,” she said, noting that the forum provided a good opportunity for those affected to interact with persons like themselves.

“It’s one thing for us to talk to them, because we have our two feet, but it’s a different thing for them to hear from each other,” Lawrence said, adding, “We have quite a few persons, but their morale is quite low, because they often can’t go back to work and so forth.”