Doctor feels victimised for demanding better medical supplies

Baramita Health Centre

Baramita is a small village located in the Barima-Waini region some 20 miles west of Matthews Ridge. It is one of the most populated Amerindian settlements in Guyana, but it is being plagued by a number of issues.
Among those issues is that residents are not afforded the chance to receive proper medical treatment, and according to young Dr Narash Torres, he feels he is being victimised for demanding better for the residents.

Three days ago, Dr Torres took to social media and posted about the struggles residents of Baramita are facing to access proper health care. He appealed for something to be done to alleviate the residents’ situation.
According to him, since the post, an official of the Public Health Ministry has written him, threatening his dismissal or suspension following the incident.
The Carib tribe predominantly occupies the village. The community is said to have some 23 settlements, with approximately 3,000 persons living there.
According to a study titled ‘Impact of Mining: Survival Strategies for Interior Communities in Guyana’ conducted by the Guyana Human Rights Association, Baramita has a lot of social ills, and very little is being done to address them. The study indicated that girls as young as 14 were being raped, forcing them to adopt measures to protect themselves.
Dr Torres said he met that exact situation when he was transferred to the Baramita Health Post about a month ago. He explained that after completing his studies in Cuba in 2016, he returned home and did his two-year internship at the Suddie Public Hospital on the Essequibo Coast, after which he was transferred to Baramita to complete his one-year hinterland stint.
“I haven’t been there for a month, and seeing the inhumane situation that the people have to face on a day-to-day basis, it was heartbreaking and it was getting to me. I was depressed and stressed out, and I sought help from the authorities in the region. I realised that nothing was being done. I realised that I needed to do way more, and let the people know what was going on, even if it meant putting my career at risk. I was willing to do it for the people of Baramita,” Dr Torres said.
Dr Torres told Guyana Times he requested help from the regional authorities, but to no avail. He said that because Baramita does not have a Health Centre, whenever they request certain emergency medication, it would not be delivered. He began to question his assignment, since the tools he required to execute his functions were not available.
“So my question has always been, why send doctors there? There is no need for medical doctors there, and you are sending me there to basically waste my time? So that is where it basically started. And after I reached out to the people of Baramita and I noticed that it was indeed a sad situation and I needed to act fast, I did that through the relevant authorities, and I was well aware of what should be done. I contacted the relevant authorities through the doctor in charge, but (there was) no response,” he explained.
The Rupununi native said he requested that the authorities have the ATV fixed, so that the medical team could visit the residents, rather than having the residents walk for hours to receive care.
“You find people walking all day for 5-6 hours to get to the health centre. One-year-olds, 6-month-old babies with severe anaemia, malaria, high fever and crashing. That is what it is like in here, and we don’t have the resources to provide the care to the people,” he noted.

Response
The Public Health Ministry, via the Regional Health Officer and the Director of Regional and Clinical Services, allegedly never acknowledged or responded to Dr Torres’ request for assistance, but when his plea went viral and the local media began asking questions, he was reportedly threatened with dismissal.
This newspaper was told Director of Regional and Clinical Services, Dr Kay Shako, wrote to RHO Dr Cerdel Mc Watt demanding answers as to who gave Dr Torres permission to speak with the media.
In response, Dr Mc Watt allegedly threatened to have Dr Torres suspended, and he has since been informed that his services would be put on hold despite him still being in Baramita.
“I was asked to submit a written report of what triggered me to put something like that in the media. After I submitted it, it would be taken to PS and the relevant authorities to discuss and then determine my fate,” Dr Torres related.
However, he said, he would not buckle under any form of pressure, since what he had done was the humane thing. This publication’s attempt to contract the Public Health Ministers – Senior Minister Volda Lawrence and Junior Minister Karren Cummings – were futile.
Additionally, the regional health authorities directed all questions to the MOPH.