The belief that men do not pay enough attention to their health was dispelled on Saturday morning when Cancer Support Services held a Prostate Specific and Carcinoembryonic Antigen (PSA/CEA) Screening. The hosting of the event was symbolic because it coincided with World Cancer Day.

This session, which took place at their office at Dayrells Road in Christ Church, attracted a large crowd.

Janette Lynton, Executive Director and Founder of Cancer Support Services, was pleased with the turnout. She noted this was their first event for the year. Events are scheduled for every six weeks. She said,  “We started at 10 am and so far we have 160 people waiting but we have seen 100 already and it’s just 12 pm and we are finishing at 1 pm.”

Lynton is appreciative of the support provided by corporate Barbados. She stated, “I want to thank all of the persons that came on board with us, Summit Rehab Centre, who sponsored 10 men today and I also want to thank the lab and all of the persons who have donated the water, everything today.”

She confirmed, “We are seeing quite a few younger persons coming out, which  is very commendable and we trust that this will continue on that trend.” She emphasised, “Although the person may get a high PSA that does not mean it is cancerous. It can be an infection; it can be so many other different things. But we always recommend that they take the results to their physician and if they don’t have a physician, we would recommend one and we usually follow up with them so that they are not left out there alone.” The procedure involves a blood test and there is nothing to fear. “Early detection is the key,” she assured.

Michael Cobham, who attended the screening, described the experience  as a pleasant one. “It was a long wait because there were a lot of people that came out to get tested today but the process itself was very simple.”  He advised, “I encourage everyone to come out. I came for my general health. Getting older I want to know more about what is happening to me. This was an opportunity to come and get the test at a discounted price, so I took it.”

Though the recommended age for the test is 35, if  there is a strong history of cancer in their family, individuals are encouraged to get screened at an earlier age.

Cancer survivor Ian Carrington was on hand promoting his self–published  book An Unexpected Challenge : My Battle with Cancer, which chronicles his  experience with the disease. He shared, “Twenty- eight years ago I had a confrontation with cancer and I thought I should share my story, looking at the impact on myself, my family and looking at the methods I used to heal and perhaps more importantly the lessons I learned in the process.”

A cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence. He said , “I subsequently learned there are a lot of people that survive it but a lot of people are not aware of that.” He reinforced that persons should listen to their bodies, if something does not feel quite right they should not hesitate to get the issue checked. His book is available at local bookstores across the island.

Summit Rehab Centre  representatives were on site displaying some of the products  that they offer. Students from Ross University School of Medicine conducted free blood pressure checks.

A similar exercise will take place in St Lucy in March to capture the northern catchment area.  (STT)

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By Anesta Henry 

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is continuing to work towards clearing the backlog of people awaiting elective surgeries.

That assurance has come from Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness with responsibility for the QEH, Dr Sonia Browne, who also told Barbados TODAY she was pleased the healthcare institution was on top of its cataract surgeries.

She congratulated medical personnel and other workers who contributed to clearing up the backlog in those surgeries “in a timely manner”.

“Now, the joint replacement surgeries have started and we are looking to really get that moving swiftly and in a practical way. Right now, the joint replacement surgeries are not going as fast as I would like it but we are getting there,” she said. 

“For the other surgeries, one of the delays was the availability of theatres. All of the theatres that are available, I believe, are in use.”

Dr Browne further explained that while the three theatres at the hospital’s Lion’s Eye Care Centre have been out of use, all major ophthalmology surgeries had to be diverted to the main theatres.

She said the hospital’s management was in the process of getting a loan to get the theatres at the Eye Care Centre repaired.

“We are looking to get those back on track and working again on their own to free up some of the other theatres,” the Minister said.

Responding to complaints from patients referred to the hospital for operations, Dr Browne said that while some complaints were valid, some surgeries were delayed due to reasons beyond the QEH’s control.

She said some patients would show up for operations but their test results showed that, for example, their diabetes “is out of whack, their hypertension is out of whack, they may have eaten when they shouldn’t”, leading to scheduled surgeries having to be postponed.

“I promise you that we are looking at all of that and we are trying to work with the doctors and nurses and everybody else to see where we can address that. The issue that we found is a delay in the start time for surgery and I think we have more or less addressed that, so they start on time and the process would flow,” Dr Browne said.

During a press conference in March last year, Minister of Health and Wellness Ian Gooding-Edghill said partnerships were being explored with Cuba to reduce the backlogs, adding there was  need for “out-of-the-box commercial thinking”.

He revealed at that time that part of the plan will be to get all 12 operating theatres back into operation to be utilised “day and night” for surgeries. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

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The Barbados Cancer Society (BCS) says while there has been a rapid increase in new breast cancer cases coming through its programme, there has been no Stage 4 diagnoses in the last five years.

There have also been no deaths recorded by the programme from 2018 to December 2022 among those diagnosed at stage 0-1 with the disease.

Medical Coordinator of the Breast Screening Programme (BSP), Dr Shirley Jhagroo, has attributed the absence of stage four patients to the ongoing awareness programme.

“I am not saying that there hasn’t been any, but at the Breast Screening Programme we have not had a new patient at stage 4. And this I honestly attribute to awareness, and the walk (Walk for the Cure) has made the difference. 

“Unfortunately there was an increase in the number of new cases diagnosed per year, from 26 in 2018 to 72 in 2022. I don’t know if we can attribute this to the new [screening] machine, up and running since September last year, that we are getting new patients with earlier diagnoses,” Dr Jhagroo said.

Her disclosures were made on Thursday as she delivered remarks at the presentation of funds raised through the CIBC FirstCaribbean 2022 Walk for the Cure activities to the BSP at the Hilton Hotel.

Dr Jhagroo said that the programme continues to be self sufficient and noted that the funds raised from the walk along with donations, go towards purchasing and maintenance of equipment. The money also subsidises investigations such as breast biopsies, mammograms and ultrasounds. 

The doctor said that the education and awareness campaign to save lives through early detection has made a difference in the attendance numbers at the clinic, as is evidenced, by the number of self-referred patients moving from 15 per cent 10 years ago, to almost 40 per cent in 2022.

She said over 125 000 clients have benefited from the services of the BSP, thanks to the Walk for the Cure fundraising activities.

“Over the past two decades there has been a continuous upgrade in breast imaging technology. We have been very fortunate to have the resources to keep up with this changing technology. The programme is serviced by a $1.2 million state-of-the-art 3D mammogram with special features for imaging male breast. . .,” she said.

Dr Jhagroo said that in 2023, the Breast Screening Programme intends to add a stereotactic attachment to the present 3D mammogram machine. The special attachment, one of the best currently on the market, will allow the BSP to carry out breast biopsies.

“We are hoping that this will improve our early detection. Its cost at the moment is over $170 000. So thank you so much CIBC, we are going to have that.

“I have sort of ordered it, but the [manufacturers] are coming in to meet with us to be committed and for us to give our deposit and give them details of what we really want,” she said.

FirstCaribbean’s Director Retail Banking Channels, Michelle Whitelaw, indicated that in addition to the 2022 Walk for the Cure activity, the financial institution also embarked on a series of fundraising activities which raised BDS$200 000. 

(AH)

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The donation of two ambulances by the Maria Holder Memorial Trust to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) has led to the Emergency Ambulance Service (EAS) now being equipped with nine vehicles to respond to the 14 000-16 000 emergency calls it receives annually.

The trust handed over the two ambulances during a ceremony at the EAS Wildey, St Michael headquarters on Monday, where trustee, King’s Counsel, Peter Symmonds, announced that in order to help the service achieve its ideal target of 12 functioning ambulances, the registered charity had agreed to purchase two ambulances in 2024, provided that the QEH purchases one this year.

Symmonds noted that in addition to the two fully-equipped ambulances, the trust also donated two additional stretchers, safety vests, helmets and dispatcher headsets. He said the entire donation cost an estimated $400 000.

“In order to make the appropriate intervention, with equipment should also come training and we have agreed to assist with funding the training of up to 15 dispatchers by April 2023 so that when you call 511 you should be assured that you are speaking to personnel who are continually trained to carry out their duties. This is therefore seen as a complement to the provision of the ambulances and equipment which we fervently expect will be immediately put to good use,” Symmonds said.

The trustee also indicated that the staff of the trust has received presentations on healthcare from EAS Medical Consultant, Dr David Byer.

Dr Byer said while the service responds to 50 to 60 calls per day, the additional ambulances allow for the fleet to last longer while undergoing the necessary servicing and preventative maintenance.

“This bolsters our fleet. Our target is between 10 to 12 vehicles and this allows for the fleet to last longer because it allows us to do the necessary maintenance. I mean not all 10 to 12 would be off the road at the same time, but we would be able to pull them out and do the necessary servicing and the necessary preventative maintenance to allow them to last for a very long time.

“We are working with the trust in terms of supporting training with respect to the dispatchers and that is something that we are looking at in 2023. And further down the road, that is basically very preliminary, we are going to be looking at paramedic training as well as possibly driver training for emergency drivers of the vehicles so that they can function a lot safer,” Dr Byer said.

Sales Director of NASSCO Limited, Roger Moore, who sourced the ambulances, said that a down payment for an additional vehicle has already been made and suppliers have already started manufacturing it.

“In the next couple months you should be receiving that. We hope that it would not take as long as these last two took, but this is a quieter time, the end of the year is always a busy time, so I think that this time you should be receiving it much sooner so that you can get the other one ordered before the year is out,” Moore said.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr Sonia Browne, extended gratitude to the Trust for the donation and the pledge to train staff of the EAS.

She said the trust’s contribution adds to the care and treatment of patients, specifically due to the decrease in waiting times and availability of ambulances and provision of-well trained staff.

“All these of course will impact positively on morbidity and mortality rates from injury and illness throughout the island,” Dr Browne said. (AH)

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Adopting a healthy lifestyle in Barbados can be achieved without excessive spending.

So says vice-president of the Dietitians of Barbados, Meshell Carrington who said, contrary to popular belief, eating healthy could be achieved at an affordable price.

Speaking during an event hosted by the Alexandra School Alumni Association at the school’s, Queen Street, St Peter, grounds over the weekend, Carrington said ground provisions and legumes were inexpensive, healthy options.

She pointed out that breadfruits could be purchased for around $3, while some legumes were on the market for even cheaper at around $1.60. Foods such as green plantain, yam, sweet potato, cassava, eddoes and brown rice were all available on the local market.

However, Carrington said a 2019 food survey done in Barbados revealed that sugar-sweetened beverages, poultry, ground provisions, rice, bread, cake, sweetbread, pasta, dairy products and fish were the preferred foods of Barbadians.

“The common theme was that the Barbadian diet was characterised by high sugar intake, with most of the sugar coming from added sugars. There are also high intakes of fat and salt and the dietary intake of fibre is inadequate…along with low intakes of fruits and vegetables,” she said.

“Meats are one of the major foods found to be consumed but we don’t need that much meat. People could probably reduce the meat consumption a bit and eat more legumes which are cheaper. Staples are the main source of carbohydrates, provide energy and also provide the body with dietary fibre.”

Additionally, she said a Barbados Food Consumption Survey done in 2000 revealed that on average, Barbadians ate out twice weekly.

Carrington also urged Barbadians to stay away from “ultra-processed” foods. She said a 2015 survey showed that 65 per cent of adults in Barbados were classified as either overweight or obese.

She told the session that the most consumed ultra-processed foods in Barbados included soft drinks, sandwich bread, salt bread, french fries and cereal.

“It [ultra-processed food] is defined as the formulation of ingredients, mostly of exclusive, industrialised use. So they are highly processed and they are typically created by a series of techniques and processes…There is no real nutritional value in them and all they provide are calories,” Carrington cautioned.

“The goal is really trying to get some energy balance, so the energy or calories that you are taking in, needs to equal the energy or calories that are going out. It is necessary to control energy because it is necessary to control weight.”

The dietitian explained that poor diets were the primary causes of hypertension, diabetes and some forms of cancer.

Carrington said it remained a concern that a large number of children in Barbados were obese.

“One out of every three children in Barbados between the ages of nine and 10 are either obese or overweight. That’s concerning because the earlier you start the more complications you will have because of the ill effect of the disease,” said Carrington. She also pointed out that 12 per cent of those children had elevated systolic blood pressure. (RB)

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By Shamar Blunt

A leading medical consultant believes the impact of Barbados’ growing Non-communicable Disease (NCD) epidemic has become an even more dire problem for the island’s acute healthcare facility because of COVID-19.

Dr Kenneth Connell said: “I probably would have said it is more dramatic than that,” in response to recent assertions by Acting Director of Medical Services Dr Chaynie Williams that NCD sufferers were contributing significantly to delays in the Accident and Emergency Department. 

Dr Connell, the Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of West Indies Cave Hill Campus and Consultant Physician at the QEH, noted:

“The emergency [department] pre-COVID was already a difficult place in terms of waiting time… What has happened post-COVID, is an increase in the NCD emergencies – stroke, heart attack and heart failure. COVID has been the propellent for a lot of this. So patients admitted with emergencies can sometimes remain in A&E department for two, three days waiting to be placed on the ward,” he explained.

Dr Williams recently told the radio call-in programme Down to BrassTacks on which callers raised the issue of the delivery of service at the hospital: “The emergency department’s challenges are a health system challenge as it represents one geographic location. We have many complications of non-communicable diseases – kidney, heart, and others – that patients need in-patient care [for] and many times persons spend days in the Accident and Emergency Department trying to access in-patient care because they are very ill or in hospital and can’t get out of hospital because they are not well enough.”

Agreeing that the NCD situation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is severely impacted by the NCD situation, Dr Connell said this is due directly to the influences of the pandemic. In fact, he suggested to Barbados TODAY that the pressure being placed on the island’s healthcare system from Barbadians being treated for NCDs is being understated.

Noting the importance of expanding the A&E Department in order to cater to the island’s emergency health needs, Dr Connell insisted that any such expansion would not be the answer to Barbados’ out-of-control NCD war.

“Expanding the A&E Department, which there has been a lot of talk about, I am not sure is the actual solution. What would happen, the beds from the expanded department would just be basically holding more patients with NCD emergencies.

“I think that the country needs to have a serious conversation with all stakeholders – from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, civil society organisations, patient advocate groups – so that we can decide how best we can manage or better manage NCDs before they reach the hospital. If we do not do that, then what we are likely to see is what I would describe as a slowly growing pandemic.”   

The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 2022 Non-communicable Disease Progress Monitor report states that the percentage of deaths from NCDs in Barbados in 2019 stood at 83 per cent or 2,800 total NCD deaths, which is above the world average of 74 per cent.

Dr Connell suggested that education surrounding the nation’s NCD fight needed to be increased significantly if the current situation at the QEH and other healthcare facilities is to ever be addressed.  shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb

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By Emmanuel Joseph

After two years of administering the COVID-19 National Vaccination Programme, Government’s Immunisation Unit is about to cease operations and one of the coordinators has lamented that not enough was done to counter misinformation about the vaccines in the early stages.

Joint coordinators of the programme Major David Clarke and retired senior medical officer of health Dr Elizabeth Ferdinand confirmed on Monday that their tenure will end on Tuesday and the Ministry of Health and Wellness will take over administering COVID-19 vaccines and issuing certificates for overseas travel.

Dr Ferdinand said that about 59 per cent of the local population has now been fully vaccinated and though that figure was “not bad”, she is disappointed it had not reached about 70 per cent.

“When we started giving the children five to 11 [the vaccine], the number of people eligible increased. Right now, it is the whole population only minus those children under five. So you can understand that as time has gone on and we increased the number of people who are eligible… the percentage [of people vaccinated] fell because not as many younger people were having the vaccine,” she told Barbados TODAY.

Dr Ferdinand said that apart from the early unavailability of vaccines, many of the challenges experienced over the past two years related to a lack of public awareness and knowledge regarding the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

“People were bombarded with all kinds of information and not all of the information was accurate. So there was a lot of false information around, and to get over that I think we didn’t do enough. We didn’t have enough finances to do the social media blasts that would have been necessary. We did what we could on a shoestring [budget] but maybe we could have given everybody more information and counteracted the negative publicity and knowledge,” she said.

“People were undecided and wanted more information to make the decision, especially with the childhood vaccine…they were brought in during the last phase. We did a little bit, but we didn’t do enough to allay parents’ fears and encourage them to get the children vaccinated,” added the retired top public health officer.

Despite this, Dr Ferdinand reported the general success of the work of the unit which was set up in the Ministry of Health in February 2021, at the height of the pandemic, to manage the vaccination programme.

“We have done a lot better than a lot of other countries, and I would say yes, we have been successful,” she declared.

“We were able to vaccinate people to get them fully vaccinated and hopefully to prevent many of them from having cases of serious disease and death. It is not measurable. You can’t measure how many deaths you prevented, but according to facts and figures, I think we did prevent many deaths. I can’t give you a figure. Maybe if they had not been vaccinated, some of them would have died or had serious complications. So saving lives was what we set out to do, and I think we accomplished a lot of that.”

Major Clarke, who will return to the Barbados Defence Force (BDF), said the highlight of the programme was witnessing hundreds of people turning up at centres to be immunised against the virus.

“When we started out we were a little rocky but I think as time went on we got better and better at the process. And as we got better and better at the process, the experience of the clients got better and better,” he said in an interview with Barbados TODAY.

The programme will now operate like any other adult vaccination system.

Declaring that most of those who wanted to be immunised have already been taken care of, Major Clarke explained that people would now have to go to the polyclinics if they wanted to be inoculated against COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health said the COVID-19 vaccine “will be available at all polyclinics as per the weekly schedule”.

Reflecting on his work with the Immunisation Unit, Major Clarke described it as very enjoyable.

“I would say I had a very enjoyable time. It was something different to do and also I enjoyed the interaction with the staff and members of the Barbados public health system and the different volunteer groups,” the army major recalled.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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The first meeting of the Alexandra School Alumni Association for the year will take the form of a discussion on healthy lifestyles and is open to the public.  

There will be a presenter from Dietitians of Barbados (DB), the first local professional organisation for registered dietitians and students in human nutrition and dietetics.

The discussion takes place on Saturday, January 28 at the school, Queen Street, St Peter at 4 p.m. and will touch on general health with a question-and-answer segment after the initial presentation by Meshell Carrington, vice-president of DB.  

A cookbook, Barbadian Gourmet, developed by dietitians at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital with emphasis on local food, will also be on sale and there will be sampling of wine and cheese. 

The dietitian organisation was launched last July 15, and it “seeks to serve the public by acting as [a] resource of technical expertise in nutrition, through promotion of nutritious food choices and through advocacy to improve the Barbadian food environment”. 

(PR)

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For the first time in the history of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), the top interns are all females.

On Thursday, during a ceremony in the QEH Auditorium, Dr Sabeehah Nana was named Intern of the Year 2021-2022, while her colleagues Dr Jacinth Mayers, Dr Rheanne Sandiford, Dr Kinelle Gill, and Dr Davinia Bostic were outstanding interns. 

They were chosen from the 36 interns at the hospital.

During her speech, Dr Nana described her experience as an intern as a never-ending year consisting of long days and many sleepless nights which triggered various emotions. 

However, she also stated that her experience was rewarding and caused her to appreciate the value she could give to patients. 

Dr Nana added that as she made her rounds through various departments shadowing leading consultants and their team of doctors, she gathered valuable experience.

“My advice to all upcoming doctors is to stay focused on your goals despite the many challenges you will face, as the reward will be greater than the test you will face. 

“A strong support system, teamwork, commitment and dedication are key to your success. I would like to close by first thanking the Almighty Allah for my success. On behalf of my colleagues and I, we would like to thank the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for selecting us as recipients for these awards,” the top intern said.

Internship Coordinator Dr Clyde Cave said the outstanding interns demonstrated, during the practical exercise, the characteristics of young doctors at the top of their field.

He said they had not only performed well but showed “all the potential of being outstanding doctors in our community”. 

Dr Cave stressed that merely showing up for work was not enough, and those who excelled should be recognised.

“When we had the meeting to finalise the discussion, all these young doctors brought different profiles to being successful. Most important, it was caring for their patients, it was also reliability and dependability to their team,” he said. 

“The biggest compliment you can pay to an intern is for their supervisor to say ‘when I am away, I am fully confident that our patient is in good hands’, and all outstanding interns rose to that level. 

“There were some whose personal style and caring was exemplary, there were some whose efficiency and reliability was an outstanding trait, there were some that their knowledge and desire to grow in academia was an important characteristic,” Dr Cave said, stressing that “there are many dimensions to being a successful physician”.

Executive Director of Clinical & Diagnostic Services Dr the Most Honourable Corey Forde commended the young doctors for excelling thus far in their careers.

He encouraged them to treat each patient “as though they were your family member”. 

“Take a very patient-centred approach . . . throughout your entire career, irrespective of the career of the individual, irrespective of the class of the individual, irrespective of the religion of the individual, irrespective of the sexual orientation, or irrespective of religious belief. I think this is strategically important for your entire career,” Dr Forde advised. (AH)

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Only licensed doctors have the authority to prescribe medicinal cannabis in Barbados and only pharmacists are legally allowed to dispense it.

This reminder came from Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA) Senator Shanika Roberts-Odle at Wednesday’s National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) panel discussion themed, Cannabis: Medicinal and Recreational: What really is the Difference? 

“If you take your doctor’s prescription and go to the very helpful neighbourhood man that happens to hang on the corner, you have now entered the illegal realm. Please turn back. It has to be prescribed by a doctor and then dispensed by a pharmacist,” the BMCLA boss cautioned.

“Your doctor, if you have gone to them for a while, knows your history – knows your medical history, knows your history potentially with narcotics or any other kinds of drugs. 

“Your doctor is the best to decide if your condition is best served with medicinal cannabis,” she added.

Roberts-Odle further informed those who attended the discussion held at the National Union of Public Workers headquarters in Dalkeith Road, St Michael, that the BMCLA has been continuing conversations with tourism stakeholders to link medicinal cannabis and Barbados’ bread and butter industry.

She explained that currently, like locals, tourists must be seen by local doctors to have medicinal cannabis prescribed. 

“So we are working on how to bring about medical tourism while working with the rules that are established and to continue that. 

“And we are also doing international outreach. We will be going to several international conferences throughout the year to be able to make sure we are ahead of what’s going on internationally. We may be late to the game, but we don’t intend to be staying behind,” Roberts-Odle asserted.

Recognising that the BMCLA needs to facilitate training and certification for the industry, she said that within the next two months, it would be announcing the educational institution tasked with providing level two training in cannabis cultivation developed with the TVET Council.

“And we have developed that with international partners, regional partners and local legacy growers who understand how to grow cannabis in Barbados,” she said.

Roberts-Odle said the BMCLA currently has a memorandum of understanding with the University of the West Indies (UWI) to facilitate research and development related to the cannabis industry. (AH)

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