Embassy News
U.S. medical outreach joins forces with local partners in Corriverton
More than 600 Guyanese in the Corriverton area recently received free medical services when the US Embassy Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) coordinated two days of medical outreach in the community. HAP provided the supplies and medicines, while local medical practitioners provided the care. The team offered services in the areas of general medicine, Gynecology and Optometry.
The outreach was a true reflection of what is possible through partnership and cooperation, as various sectors of society came together to join HAP in organizing and executing the two-day program. Members of the local Christian, Muslim, and Hindu communities assisted in publicizing the event; volunteers from the Guyana Presbyterian Church and the Kingston Masjid helped in the registration of patients and other administrative matters.
Dr. Jeewan Balram volunteered his services and his clinic for the outreach, as did Dr Surendra Persaud and Dr. Selma Chopra from St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, members of the Berbice Medical Association, and local medics and nurses. Da Silva's House of Optics donated lenses and frames, and made available a grinding machine that was used to custom-make spectacles for the patients; these services were provided by Dr. Lionel and Bernard Da Silva of Da Silva’s House of Optics. Mayor Roy Viznaudh’s office provided seating accommodation for visitors to the clinic.
This Corriverton medical outreach program was part of the U.S. Government’s ongoing commitment to improving the lives of the Guyanese people. In September 2007 more than 10,000 Guyanese benefited from general and specialized medical treatment, dentistry, and veterinary services and surgical procedures carried out aboard the USNS Comfort. In June 2008, a 44-member team of doctors, dentists, nurses, veterinarians, and medics from the 4215th United States Army Hospital (USAH) provided free medical services to residents of Linden and Ituni; the USAH team also presented a collection of medical books to the Linden Nursing School. In November, the U.S. Navy Ship Kearsarge will dock off Guyana’s coast for two weeks to carry out a mission in Region One that will be similar to that of the USNS Comfort.