THE Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) in collaboration with the Guyana Cancer Foundation (GCF) and the National Blood Transfusion Service hosted a medical outreach on Saturday aimed at providing homeless persons with medical treatment and sensitisation on health and safety.
General Manager of CIOG, Shameena Haniff, stated that the initiative was conceptualised with the aim of providing medical care to citizens who may not always be in a position to access it. She explained that the idea was to ensure that those persons who are homeless have the opportunity to have check-ups done, their pressure tested, and be taught health and safety practices, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We wanted to do something for the homeless people around Georgetown, in terms of giving back, because while people pay more attention to orphanages and so on, I don’t really see many people doing stuff directly for the homeless people, so what we did today is the mini-medical outreach.”

She explained that the initiative was planned before the COVID-19 virus hit Guyana, adding that while the CIOG intended to have it done on a larger scale, the planning team had to adjust to the COVID-19 preventative measures. According to Haniff, the CIOG worked to ensure that the persons would not just benefit from pressure and blood-sugar testing, but that they could also benefit from HIV testing and cancer screening.
Haniff further disclosed that the CIOG, as part of its outreach, provided free refreshments, clothing, vitamins, and sanitisation items such as soap to those persons who visited the medical outreach. Bibi Saeedah Akhtar Hassan, Founder of the Guyana Cancer Foundation (GCF), stated that she believes the initiative would be instrumental in the lives of those homeless persons in central Georgetown.
“We want to reach out to especially the homeless persons because we know usually, they aren’t able to go into a medical facility to get screened or even get cancer information, how to detect it and what to do next,” Hassan said.

She stated that the Guyana Cancer Foundation aimed to provide not just screening, but also general education and awareness on cancer. At the outreach, persons were taught about cervical cancer, breast cancer, and even breast self-examination techniques.
Additionally, representatives of the National Blood Transfusion Service encouraged persons to donate blood to the blood bank. Medical Technologist Latoya Cudjoe stated that blood donation is an essential service that has seen a decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She stated that since the pandemic began in March 2020, many of its blood drives were postponed due to persons’ uncertainty of the safety at the time. She further stated that since then, the National Blood Transfusion Service has worked to implement strategies that would ensure a safe environment for the donors.
At the outreach, medical officials also assisted persons in identifying their blood group to promote further health and safety. Cudjoe explained that this is a pivotal part of medical information, as it could save much-needed time in an emergency if someone requires blood and is already aware of his/her blood group.