A TEAM of Trinidadian ophthalmologists over the weekend conducted a total of ten successful surgeries at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). The team of four persons (two ophthalmologists, one nurse and one assistant) hail from “World Class Eye Surgeons” based in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Dr. Ronnie Bhola, Trinidadian vitreo-retinal specialist and head of World Class Eye Surgeons, willingly accepted an invitation from Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton to come on this mission.
Vitreo-retinal surgery is not available in Guyana and for many years, Dr. Bhola has been operating on numerous Guyanese patients with retinal diseases of the eye (especially diabetic patients).
During this visit, Dr. Bhola was able to perform surgeries on patients who had already undergone retinal surgeries in Trinidad and needed follow-up surgery. A total of 10 surgeries were done by the team.
Dr. Norton paid a visit to the hospital last Friday when the surgeries were in progress, and was deeply appreciative of the team’s visit. He noted that this saved the Guyanese patients the effort of having to travel to Trinidad to have these surgeries done.
Dr. Adesh Maharaj, an orbit and oculoplasty specialist in the team, operated on four children who had strabismus (or squint). The aim of strabismus surgery is to correct the misalignment of the eyes. These children were operated under general anesthesia at GPHC.
On Saturday morning, the children were excited to be able to have their eyes correctly aligned. Dr. Lamy Badette, ophthalmologist working in the Department of Ophthalmology at GPHC worked with Dr. Mahabir on these paediatric cases.
The team performed the surgeries last Friday at the GPHC with the cooperation of the ophthalmology theatre and the anaesthesia staff.
Later in the evening, the ophthalmologists were involved in a Continuing Medical Education (CME) session organized by Alcon Trinidad/Ansa McAl Group and GPHC. They delivered lectures on various eye conditions to ophthalmologists, optometrists, general physicians and students.
The visiting specialists said that they were happy with this mission and hope to continue doing such charitable missions here in the future, while the patients were extremely grateful for their timely visit.
The GPHC, Department of Ophthalmology, was very pleased to have been able to host the visiting team and to learn from the specialists.