The voluntary medical team that spearheaded the first successful kidney transplant in Guyana and performed over 100 different types of surgeries is conducting its 17th tour of duty in Guyana.
Joining the team of doctors, surgeons, physicians and nurses this year is Dr Rakesh Kumar, a professor and chair of the Department of Bio-Chemistry and Molecule Medicine from George Washington University.
His visit to Guyana focuses specifically on the establishment of a Genome Centre in Guyana that can serve as a model for the promotion of personalised treatment for cancer.
He met President Donald Ramotar in the company of the team of medical experts who have been travelling to Guyana each year through the auspices of a successful public-private partnership sponsored kidney transplant programme.
Leading the team has been George Subraj, founder of Zara Realty Holding Corp, whose generous support to specialised health needs in Guyana, he regards as a way of giving back to the place of his birth.
After the first tour of duty in 2008, the initiative, which began with Guyana Watch, has seen medical teams visiting Guyana four times per year with the gamut of medical personnel to execute successful missions.
One hundred different types of surgeries inclusive of three kidney transplants are usually done on every visit. Additionally, through a SEVAK programme, the teams visit remote areas to examine patients for diabetes and hypertension; chronic ailments that can determine the risk of kidney failure.
As the mission progresses, the team decided to examine root cause analysis, conduct background checks of patients and initiatives that will improve the capacity of the experts to make correct predictions of cancer patients.
The delegation that visited President Ramotar included transplant surgeon Dr Rahul Jindal and Dr Stephen Guy.
A public-private partnership of a similar nature has also influenced the establishment of the Doobay Medical Centre on the East Coast of Demerara that offers dialysis at a reasonable cost and at times free to those genuinely in need.
