Social: Volunteers Wanted at the Bustamante Hospital for Children

Photo: Ms.Marchell Anderson, Trained Special Education Teacher

If you have listened to any presentation by the newly appointed Health Minister Dr.Christopher Tufton, then you have heard his reference to the need for compassionate care within the current health system.

‘I am a believer in compassionate care, we need to develop a program that is non medical but more psychological...we need to establish a volunteerism policy in hospitals’

Dr Christopher Tufton

The Bustamante Hospital for Children is one such institution that is reaching out for volunteers to show compassion to children at the recovery level.

While speaking to La-Toya Latty about her role at the children’s hospital as an educator, she explained that the hospital has a learning and activity centre for children whose injuries do not allow them to leave the hospital and go to school. This centre helps to bridge the gap so that they do not fall behind on their curriculum and the teachers ensure that the kids are up-to-date by following the same curriculum as the Ministry of Education.

Photo: Latoya Latty, Early Childhood Educator

However, she said though the learning centre is equipped to teach up to the GSAT level many of the patients will come to the centre not to learn but to rather keep themselves occupied by reading books, colouring or just by interacting with others outside of their ward which in turn helps to lift their spirits.

Currently, the centre only has two resident teachers who teach the students at all levels. They have up to 15 students at a time of all ages and this makes it hard to give each student the attention and care that they desperately need.

From time to time, Ms. Latty says that volunteers come in from high school institutions across the country and international charities ,but there is much room for improvement where that is concerned and is encouraging people who can to step-up and serve by volunteering at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

Persons who are interested in volunteering with the Bustamante Hospital for Children can call or visit the Human Resource Department at 968-0300 to fill out a form.

Minister Dr. Tufton (center) with La-Toya Latty (left) and Marchell Anderson (right) of the Bustamante Hospital for Children Learning and Activity Centre

Health: Carib leads world in abttling HIV/AIDS

The United Nations is reporting major progress by the Caribbean in battling HIV/AIDS, with the region recording the biggest drop in new infections compared to all regions in the world.

According to a report from the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), ‘How AIDS changed everything — MDG6: 15 years, 15 lessons of hope from the AIDS response’ which indicates that the world has met and exceeded the sixth millennium development goal of halting and reversing the AIDS epidemic, it is estimated that the number of people newly infected with HIV in the Caribbean in 2014 had been cut in half since 2000.

“The number of people living with HIV in the Caribbean fell sharply in the first half of the past decade, as new infections declined and substantial AIDS-related mortality persisted. As access to HIV treatment has expanded, the number of people living with HIV has stabilized and begun to increase, consistent with trends seen globally,” stated the report which was released yesterday on the sidelines of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.

The decrease in new infections was most pronounced in the 2000 to 2004 period, when they fell by almost 32 per cent. In the 2005 to 2009 and 2010 to 2014 periods, more modest declines in new infections of about 10 per cent occurred.

Haiti accounted for roughly half of all new HIV infections in 2014 in the Caribbean, with the Dominican Republic contributing the second largest number of new infections.

AIDS-related deaths in the region have also fallen by 59 per cent since 2005.

“The Caribbean is the only region in which the estimated decline in tuberculosis-related deaths among people living with HIV has exceeded 50 per cent. From 2004 to 2013, TB-related deaths among people living with HIV in the Caribbean fell by 66 per cent,” the report stated.

Worldwide, new HIV infections have fallen by 35 per cent and AIDS-related deaths by 41 per cent, and UNAIDS said the world is on track to ends the AIDS epidemic by 2030

 

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