In an effort to enhance their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and extend their reach across the country, the 13th Chinese Medical Team partnered with logging company Rong-An Inc. to stage a one-day medical outreach in Kwakwani on Saturday.
Mikiko Tanaka, UN Resident Coordinator; Dr Rhonda Moore, NAPS Manager; and others participating in the Health Walk
This was as 15 foreign medical practitioners journeyed to the Upper Demerara, Region 10, to offer much need medical services and nutritional advice and care to residents within the area.
This initiative, which is unique to the region, was organised by the timber concessionaire that operates in close proximity to the community.
While speaking to <<Guyana Times>> during the event on Saturday, Sara Huang, assistant to the managing director of the organising entity, explained that the initiative was birthed from the already existing relationship between the logging entity and the Kwakwani community.
Huang highlighted, “Our company recognises that there is a great portion of people who are unable to receive the necessary medical support, or even sufficient medical support, here in Kwakwani.”
Acknowledging the need to bridge the gap in medical services offered in the Upper Demerara community, the logging company reached out to the Chinese Medical Team to organise the outreach.
“We organised such a medical programme with the hope that it will provide certain benefits for them (the residents), especially with certain medical advice,” relayed the Rong-An representative.
The 13th Chinese Medical Team comprises of practitioners specialised in the fields of gynecology, orthopaedics, paediatrics, ophthalmology, general surgery, as well as neurology.
Following the examinations conducted by the doctors, it was highlighted that an alarming number of residents within the area were presented with cases of hypertension and diabetes.
With that in mind, the medical practitioners expressed interest in returning to the far-flung community to offer further support, especially with medication and other forms of treatment.
Welcoming the initiative was Leona Narine, who is the Assistant Regional Executive Officer of Region 10. Narine told reporters that close to 100 residents benefited from the medical venture.
The REO extended gratitude to the teams for their selfless service, and thereby opened the doors for other such ventures in the future.
The 13th Chinese Medical Team has been deployed to Guyana for some 5 years now, and has embarked on several similar initiatives to date. Of the 15 doctors as part of this team, 11 of the specialists are currently on attachment at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
