190 Qualfon staff benefit from dental outreach
The Ministry of Health, in its continued public/private partnership efforts, held a two- day dental outreach at Qualfon Inc., Beterverwagting East Coast Demerara during which 190 people received attention. Of that number there were 28 extractions, 35 fillings and 131 benefitted from having their teeth cleaned.
During the National Week of Screening and National Week of Testing, Qualfon along with the Health Ministry afforded staff the opportunity to receive medical attention. These outreaches are a part of similar ventures with other corporate entities.
Fogarty’s in particular has used this opportunity to the fullest as hundreds of citizens and employees in the Water Street area benefitted from eye care, dental, VIA and medical check ups.
During the Week of Screening (January 14-18) the VIA – Visual Inspection using Acetic Acid method was taken to several corporate entities including Qualfon, Ashmins, Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Bank of Guyana, Parliament and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
About 233 women were screened for cervical cancer with eight percent showing a positive test. These received treatment immediately and 0.01 percent which represents suspected cases of cancer were referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for further assessments. One hundred and fifty women also benefited from sensitisation sessions.
Another outreach at the Good Hope Mandir, saw over two dozen persons receiving dental care.
The Ministry of Health is planning to hold similar outreaches at the Albouystown Masjid and several health fairs in the city.
Since these outreaches were held, thousands of Guyanese, particularly the elderly have benefited from eye care, general check-ups, VIA and dental services. These activities has proven to be quite beneficial to the recipients, in that, they are cost effective and convenient since the patients, especially the elderly, do not have to travel far distances to access medical attention.
