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,w_. yrjrjrj'fjfjPtffàWiW i THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, APRIL 28,2004 PAGE 3 www.durhamrcgion.com Region's health-care workers put medical skills to work in Guyana Team travels to South America each year to care for patients, some of whom have never had medical treatment JANE MCDONALD Staff writer DURHAM -- Every year, as a unique local medical team makes its way through the rain forests of Guyana, one sight invariably stops them in their tracks. It's not the antcatcrs, giant water lilies, monkeys or brilliantly coloured exotic birds that cause the double-takes. It's the people who walk by wearing Oshawa Generals caps. The unlikely sight is easy to explain: explain: Dr. Roy Rowsell, a medical internist internist and hockey fanatic, leads the team. At age 82, Dr. Rowsell has just returned returned from the South American nation nation -- it was his 32nd trip there - along with four other health care professionals professionals from Lakeridge Health Oshawa. Oshawa. The doctors, lab technicians, nurses nurses and pharmacists make the annual trip on their own dime. They take vacation vacation time and pay their own airfares. airfares. Donna Parker estimates the team treated about 2,000 people this year. "From infancy to those in their 50s," she says. Most of their patients are Amerindian - Guyana, with a population population of 702,100, is known as the country of six peoples: Africans, Amerindians, Chinese, East Indians, Europeans and Portugese. Many don't live much past their 50s. Some die from snakebites, others from typhoid. Many of the patients the team sees have received little or no medical treatment in their lives. Guyana is the only South Ameri can country where English is the official official language. It's bordered by Venezuela on the west, Suriname on the east, Brazil to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. One of the reasons this destination works so well is the relationship Dr. Rowsell has developed with the local Lions Club representative. "On the second year, we met the Lions resource person and haven't looked back," he says. Lab technician Donna Parker made her fourth trip this year and is grateful for the donated equipment she was able to use to conduct the necessary tests. Canadian Tire Corporation Corporation donated a generator and the Westmount Kiwanis Club donated funds to purchase medication. Ve'a- havta is a Jewish organization based in Toronto that also plays a big role in recruiting medical personnel, raising funds and helping to coordinate the trips. "The team takes multivitamins down and gives them out to the children children in the villages," adds Ms. Parker. Parker. " Apparently, what is called'river blindness' is caused because the children children lack vitamin A. This vitamin can be stored in the body and 20 multivitamins multivitamins provide enough Vitamin A for one year. The number of children with this blindness has been cut dramatically." dramatically." This year, 300 pounds of medication medication was sent. And though it was the first trip for pharmacist Reshma Rathod, she is credited by the team for knowing where everything was to the point where she could reach into one of the suitcases, pull out what was needed as the team's boat plied river waters into the interior. "A boat pulled over to ours and somebody had a rash," recalls Dr. Mike Silverman, an infectious disease disease specialist at Lakeridge. "She pulled out the right cream." Of course antibiotics, drugs to treat malaria and parasitic worms that can cause malnutrition in children formed a big part of the team's massive massive medicine chest. X>VL *i! r. LIVE ENTERTAINMENT SAT., May 1st -10 PM "BARNEY „ ADAMS" 600 Grandview, Oshawa 905-436-1476 Got a news story? Call the newsroom at 905-579-4400 S * VE | SPECIAL W"' IM TODAY'S THIS WEEK Scabies, diabetes, hypertension and tuberculosis were other ailments seen by the team; and AIDS, according according to Dr. Silverman, is on the rise. "Guyana has the second highest rate of AIDS in the Western Hemisphere," Hemisphere," he says. "We give out condoms condoms by the pound... a lot of people with HIV are struggling to get medication." medication." Ms. Parker and her Lakeridge colleague colleague Beth McCready set up their lab to include a chemistry component, component, a hematology section and a bacteriology bacteriology section. The members had to have all their shots before heading south and take precautions while they were there. "Jiggers," for instance, are burrowing fleas that can get under the skin and cause discomfort and infection. Each member makes sure they are "de-jig- gered" before returning home. "And vye're exposed to a lot of scabies," scabies," says Dr. Rowsell of the skin condition, which is caused by mites and can be easily transferred from person to person. Ms. Rathod says she would go to Guyana again and was amazed at one _ of the country's most famous attractions: attractions: Kaieteur, which is one of the highest waterfalls'in the world, nearly nearly five times as high as Niagara Falls with a clear drop of 741 feet, then a further drop of 81 feet over the great rocks at the bottom. "That was.awesome," she says. Ms. Parker is philosophical. "When you read the newspaper or watch the news on thé television, there is almost always a story about strife involving different religious groups. Vc'ahavta is a Jewish-based organization. . The team this year was made up of Jews, Christians and Hindus and our contact in Georgetown is Muslim," •she marvels. "All different faiths coming together for a common goal -- to help less fortunate people." For more information about the annual Guyana mission (another is planned for February 2005), visit www.veahavta.org/GuyanaMedical- Team2004.htm. Dr. Michael Silverman, an infectious disease specialist at Lakeridge Hospital was part of a health mission to Guyana. Please recycle this paper INTOWNE GALLERY & GIFT SHOPPE Meet the Artist I Walter Campbell ■ Sat. May 1st i...i, 4 v- r '£*lSP ;• 1-3 pm New Release The Heart Remembers 1 ' -<s-~ ^ ^99 ) Mir T L -fc* „ Framed Wot Canadian Statesman |i Clarington This Week Please note that any Classified Ads, Stories, Milestones, Letters to the Editor may be dropped off at: Sears Catalogue Store 91 Baseline Road, West Bowmanville Mon.-Fri. 10-6 pm, Sat. 10-4 pm your Units dcliwrcd In Durham's #1 Carrier Force! 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