LOCAL health care institutions are targeted to benefit from more assistance from Direct Relief (DR), the international non-profit organisation which specialises in improving the health and lives of people affected by poverty and emergency situations, by providing essential medical resources needed for their care.This development was hinted at following a visit by two officers of the U.S. based nonpartisan organisation last week on what has been described as a familiarisation tour.

Ms. Genevieve Bitters and Ms. Heather Bennett had been hosted by Sharir Chan, Chief Operating Officer of Guyana Medical Relief Inc. (GMR), which has been collaborating with DR for the past 30 years in getting free medical supplies, equipment and facilities from them to institutions in Guyana.
The two representatives from the D, based at Santa Barbara, California, visited health care institutions in four of the ten administrative regions with a view to assessing their needs and determining how best DR can assist, through GMR.
The officials arrived on Monday of last week and departed on Thursday.
Chan said that their familiarisation tour took them to health care institutions and charitable organisations in Region 4 (Demerara/Mahaica) Region 6 (East Berbice /Corentyne) Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) and Region 10(Upper Demerara/ Upper Berbice).
Their visits in Region 4 took them to the Georgetown Hospital and the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana on Monday last.
They visited health care institutions in Bartica, Region 7, and conducted needs assessments on Tuesday.
They visited health care institutions at Orealla and Siparuta in the Upper Corentyne, as well as the Port Mourant Hospital on Wednesday.
At the Port Mourant Hospital, the two women saw the formal handing over of a defibrillator (heart machine) and a portable ultrasound machine to the staffers, sent to them by DR.
They visited the Linden Hospital in Region 10 and carried out similar needs assessments on Thursday, before leaving for home, Chan said.
The GMR Inc., also based in California, benefits from its collaboration with DR which has experience in providing worldwide humanitarian medical assistance since 1948.
Chan disclosed that, armed with  on the ground knowledge of the needs of some of the local health care institutions, as well as the geographical characteristics of Guyana, the DR representatives were certainly in a better position to advise on more precise forms of assistance from their organisation for the benefit of locals. PIX: Bitters: DR Representative Genevieve Bitters discusses needs of Orealla Health Centre with Resident Doctor, Dr. Hazratalli

By Clifford Stanley