During outreach…

‘AT WORK’: The U.S volunteers extend their services to members of the Guyanese public.

MINISTER of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, yesterday acknowledged that advancements in dentistry are not on par with other care services offered in Guyana but assured that this will change with the continued support of international partners.

“Even with the constraints, we are confident that we will be able to provide better services in dentistry,” he said at Diamond Secondary School, East Bank Demerara, where a United States medical team was in the second day of hosting a dental clinic.

The outreach costs approximately US$250,000, of which US$100,000 was for medical supplies in the six-week programme, organised by American volunteer soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen participating in New Horizons Guyana, a U.S. Southern Command exercise.

For the purpose, 60 of them will be rotated over a two weeks period in the six weeks, resulting in 20 being available at any one time they are needed, in areas other than dentistry, as well.

They can also render medical assistance at Georgetown, Skeldon and Linden hospitals.

New Horizons Guyana has undertaken renovation of a school building at Timehri, also on East Bank Demerara and the construction of a health centre at La Penitence, in Georgetown.

The overall project is designed to strengthen U.S. ties with partner nations in Central and South America, through combined quality-of-life improvement.

Free
The dental services are free of cost and Guyanese children and adults, who benefit, are screened and treated in a timely manner by six dentists with the aid of other volunteering Americans.

One of the dentists, Dr Raymond Hancock, in an invited comment, said they seek to offer a little bit of everything in dental practice.

They attend to, among other things, restorations, extractions and root canals.

He said their support will also be afforded the Cheddi Jagan Dental School, in the city, too, where a volunteer will be delivering lectures for the next six weeks to boost educational capacity there.

Noting that each country has a different system, Hancock lauded that which obtains in Guyana, where, in his opinion, both education and the infrastructure are very good.

Another volunteer, with Guyanese roots, dental technician Mr. Melvin McBean, who is attached a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, holds the same view.

He said he left here when he was 13-years-old and has seen marked improvements since.

Mc Bean said there are also opportunities for improvements in the health sector.

In that context, Ramsammy pointed out that, in moving forward, relationships with partners such as the U.S. Southern Command team are imperative.

He said the health sector is tasked with building on the resources presently available.

There are now 32 dentists and a dental school in existence and programmes aimed at building capacity in the field of dentistry field and, soon, dental specialists will be deployed to the sub-regions across Guyana, Ramsammy announced.

He said measures were being put in place to establish mobile clinics, particularly for children.

Admitting that the majority of Guyanese have an aversion to visiting doctors, especially dentists, Ramsammy said his ministry wants to encourage preventative care rather than resort to curative measures.

He encouraged more of the Guyanese public to access the services provided in the current dental outreach, to keep check on their health, more specifically, oral health.