THE Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA), recently hosted a medical outreach at the New Amsterdam Hospital, Region 6, during which 22 units of blood were collected and a range of services provided.

Persons benefitted from HIV testing and counselling, Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure and diabetes testing, Visual Inspection Using Acetic Acid (VIA) and blood grouping.
The outreach was part of the organisation’s work-programme and is no strange activity to the region, since the BRHA has a robust medical outreach programme which seeks to reach and provide services to people who are unable to visit the hospital or other health care facilities. One aspect of the BRHA’s outreaches is visiting the elderly and those who are bed-ridden.
Since the Health Ministry commenced the medical outreaches, many of the major hospitals throughout the country have embarked on similar exercises independently. These have helped to strengthen ties between the people and the health care providers.