I note with concern Dr. Walter Ramsahoye’s letter to the newspaper pointing out the alarming shortage of “specialists” in Guyana. I am asking the Medical Council and the Ministry of Health to comment on his observations since many unsuspecting persons in the public are not aware of the qualifications or lack thereof of their respective doctors regarding treatment of a specific ailment that may require specialist treatment. I also urge all private hospitals to comment on Ramsahoye’s letter since the public seem to think that these hospitals have a lot of specialists. Indeed one of these hospitals present a weekly column in a privately owned newspapers and I had the impression that these people are specialists.

If what Dr. Ramsahoye says is true, then this is a national emergency that requires immediate attention since many are dying needlessly and sometimes in their prime due to a lack of proper diagnosis and then subsequent treatment.

The government and Ministry of Health must treat this issue as a top priority

We are losing our scarce and valuable human resources which need not be so if the requisite specialist help and support medical facilities are made available locally. It is quite ironic that two leading doctors Walter Chin and M.Y. Bacchus died while in the process of awaiting specialist treatment overseas.
ROBIN SEETAL