VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGE #0511/01 1421740
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221740Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5274
RHMFIUU/COMUSNAVSO
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM J3 MIAMI FL
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM J5 MIAMI FL
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0331
RUEHBE/AMEMBASSY BELMOPAN 0005
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 0741
RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA 0043
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 0407
RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA 0049
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 0029
RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO 4337
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE 0943
RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN 4037
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 0161
RUEHSN/AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR 0232
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 000511 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/PPC 
WHA/PDA 
WHA/CAR 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID MASS MOPS PREL SOCI TBIO KPAO GY
SUBJECT: Foreign Medical Assistance in Guyana 
 
REF: Georgetown 455 - Making the USNS Comfort A Success 
 
¶1. Embassy Georgetown is committed to working with the Department, 
the Pentagon, and Southcom to carry through successfully the 
President's mandate that the USNS Comfort's visit will aid "people 
who might not otherwise get the basic health care they need to 
realize a better tomorrow."  The Guyanese public (and government) 
will measure the USNS Comfort's success against a standard for 
foreign medical assistance that has been set by the Cuban and 
Chinese medical brigades permanently stationed in Guyana as well as 
by numerous visiting U.S. and Canadian NGOs, universities, and 
church groups.  As the Embassy, Southcom, Pentagon, and State 
Department work together to create the Public Diplomacy plan for the 
Comfort's visit to Guyana, we must take into consideration the 
current level of foreign medical assistance in Guyana. 
 
¶2. Following is a summary of foreign medical assistance reported in 
the Guyanese press over the last four weeks: 
 
May 19: Fifteen doctors from the Cuban Medical Brigade donated blood 
in response to the Minister of Health's call for more people to join 
the voluntary blood donation campaign.  The 62-person Cuban medical 
brigade in Guyana includes doctors, anesthesiologists, laboratory 
technicians, a bio-engineer, a cytologist and an epidemiologist. 
The Cuban doctors work in the capital, in regional hospitals, and 
some in remote hinterland areas.  One Cuban doctor is in 
Paramakatoi, an indigenous community that is fifty miles from the 
nearest unpaved road.  Note: In addition, Cuba has flown about 4000 
Guyanese needing eye-care to Havana for free treatment and 
propaganda tours.  The Cuban government also offers 500 free 
university seats to Guyanese students at medical and engineering 
faculties.  Many of the students taking up these seats, like the 
daughter of the Guyana Defense Force (GDF) Chief of Staff, profess a 
preference to study in the U.S., but cannot afford to do so without 
scholarships. End Note. 
 
May 17-19: Vice Governor of the Jiangsu Province, China, presided at 
the donation of US$85,000 worth of laparoscopic equipment to the 
Georgetown Public Hospital and turned the sod on a dormitory that 
will provide permanent housing on hospital grounds for the Chinese 
Medical Brigade.  The Chinese Medical Brigade will train Guyanese 
doctors on use of the equipment.  The Chinese have have been sending 
doctors at the consultant level to Guyana for two-year tours since 
¶1992.  The current Chinese Medical Brigade has 14 doctors stationed 
at the Georgetown Public Hospital and Linden Regional Hospital, 
including a general surgeon, ophthalmologist, acupuncturist, 
radiologist, anesthetist, plastic surgeon, obstetrician/ 
gynecologist, histopathologist, orthopedic surgeon and pediatrician. 
 Four of seven doctors at the Linden Regional Hospital are Chinese 
(two are Guyanese, one is Cuban). 
 
May 16: Two U.S. NGOs, Guyana Medical Relief and Direct Relief 
International, donated US$2.3 million in medical supplies and 
equipment to the regional hospitals in New Amsterdam, Linden, 
Suddie, Bartica, Port Mourant, and Mahaicony.  The NGOs make similar 
size donations to Guyanese hospitals about twice yearly.  The NGOs 
made their last donation, of US$2 million in medical supplies, in 
November 2006. 
 
May 1: The Northeast Mission of Hope, a 30-member medical team 
including surgeons, doctors, and nurses who work at hospitals in New 
York and New Jersey worked at Mackenzie Hospital from April 30 
through May 5.  The team provided a range of general surgery 
services including thyroidectomy, removal of hernia and gall 
bladder, treatment of enlarged scrotum and prostrate sterilization 
procedures, emergency care procedures, treatment of sores and minor 
surgeries, continuing medical education on basic life support and 
lectures on HIV and AIDS awareness. 
 
April 29: The Dean of the Royal School of Dentistry donated US$2500 
worth of textbooks to the Cheddi Jagan Dental Centre. 
 
April 28: USG funded NGO Youth Challenge Guyana will provide 
HIV/AIDS counseling and testing to 3000 persons in remote areas this 
year. 
 
April 21-22: During a six-day mission to Guyana, a four-person team 
from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, including an 
interventional cardiac electro-physiologist and an interventional 
pediatric cardiologist, screened 120 children with cardiac 
complications.  They performed digital catheterizations on seven 
children and one adult with patent ductus arteriosus, atrial septal 
defect, and coarctation of the aorta.  U.S. firm Amplatzer donated 
US$75,000 worth of devices used in the procedures.  The University 
of Mississippi team will return in about six months. 
 
April 20: The Pan American Health Organization and European Union 
handed over US$200,000 worth of equipment to the Georgetown Public 
Hospital to boost maternal and child health care.  The equipment 
included patient monitors, Doppler FHR detectors, phototherapy 
units, infant ventilators, endotracheal tubes, infant incubators, 
and computers. 
 
April 15 and 18: A Cuban staffed, state-of-the-art diagnostic and 
treatment center will be opened at Diamond--south of Georgetown--in 
late May.  Three other diagnostic and treatment centers are under 
construction at the Suddie, Leonora, and Mahaicony regional 
hospitals.  The centers will each offer a range of services such as 
laboratory, intensive care, hematology, x-ray, and ultra-sound and 
will have the capacity to conduct surgery.  In addition, an 
ophthalmology center is being built at Port Mourant Hospital.  Each 
of the four diagnostic and treatment centers will be manned by 27 
Cuban medical specialists and technicians; the ophthalmology centre 
will be staffed by 35 Cuban medical personnel.  Round the clock 
services at all five facilities will be provided free of charge. 
The Cuban government agreed to staff the centers during President 
Jagdeo's February 2006 trip to Havana. 
 
¶3. Although not mentioned in the press over the last month, 
Nigeria's Technical Aid Corp (TAC), on the ground in Guyana since 
1990, has three OB/GYNs working in regional hospitals.  India's K.M. 
Cherian, one of the world's leading cardiac surgeons, does free open 
 
heart surgeries on a dozen or two Guyanese children each year.  U.S. 
and Canadian missionary medical missions routinely provide primary 
heath care for 800 to 4,000 patients to hinterland areas, mostly 
during the U.S. summer months. 
 
¶4. Comment: Any service the Comfort provides will be appreciated by 
the people and government of Guyana, but the public diplomacy bar is 
high and we need to manage expectations carefully. 
 
ROBINSON