Successful public/private partnership results in Sophia…

In any society, acts of benevolence and kindness are appreciated by those on the receiving end, and on Tuesday residents of Pattenson, or ‘B’ Field Sophia were the happy recipients of a dental clinic that was engendered through a public /private partnership.
The residents are now able to access oral health services in their community due to the efforts of the Rotary Club of Georgetown Central in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and United Insurance which provided the funding for the project.
The Rotary Club has been working with the community for a number of years, and also has literacy clubs in varying parts of Sophia, in keeping with the club’s mandate to improve the lives of residents.
At the international level, Rotary has six areas of focus which include peace and conflict resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy and economic and community development.
Residents participated in the official commissioning of the Gy$300M dental clinic which is outfitted with two dental chairs.
Principal Dental Surgeon, Dr. Shameer Ali expressed his satisfaction that a project of this nature happened through a public/private partnership. He noted that this is something that is lacking in society since everyone looks to the government to address their needs, however the government cannot respond to everyone at the same time.
Dr. Ali illustrated that in 2006 the paediatric unit, a new department at the time, was installed at the Cheddi Jagan Dental Clinic through a private/public partnership. Contributions for that department included Colgate/Palmolive, GT&T, Rotary Club and Namilco.
“I feel proud that this community is being able to be serviced with a dental clinic which is going to be made full use of,” he said.
Dr. Ali also recognised the challenges of the residents to travel to the dental school for services.
He indicated that the Health Ministry tries to provide oral health services all across the country, but it is not able to do so to a great extent because in Guyana there is a very small dental fraternity.
He explained that the lack of dentists was also impacted by the fact that the dentistry programme is the most expensive. Nevertheless, in 2006 the government and the University of Guyana were able to put together a Bachelor of Dental Surgery programme, and as a result top quality dentists are being trained locally.
Chief Executive Officer United Insurance Howard Hall acknowledged that the project is a good reflection of, and demonstrates how governments, NGOs and the private sector can work together to maintain and improve the wellbeing of communities, particularly at a time when the economic pressure is forcing organisations to restrict the funding they can make available towards sponsorships. In this regard, he said the company is pleased to be a part of this effort.