Otis aka Otisha - HIV/AIDS advocate...

This is an interesting article I came across recently, another popular blog site also posted the article a few days back. But maybe GHARP and other health agencies should use actual people in our community to spread the word about HIV/AIDS prevention and prevalence. "But i mad that Otisha said that business is booming, he got me thinking what our society up to."

I first met Otisha, a tall Afro-Guyanese transvestite prostitute in 2003 when I reported on HIV and Aids in Guyana and Barbados.Back then, the Caribbean had the second highest rate of infection in the world.

The prevalence among female sex workers in Guyana was 27% and 21% for men who have sex with men. Five years later, Otisha is still a commercial sex worker and business is booming for him."I go with lots of clients," said Otisha, who has himself managed to avoid contracting HIV.

When I last visited, men were paying extra money to have unprotected sex.

"You do have some men who pay that type of money to have sex but I'm not going to have unprotected sex," said Otisha.

Government support for HIV and Aids sufferers has improved dramatically in Guyana in the past five years.
"They are promoting more Aids programmes on national television and promoting the use of condoms," said Otisha.

"In 2003/2004 our prevalence was approximately 2.4%. At the end of 2006 we conducted another survey, so we estimate in Guyana, right now our prevalence is about 1.55%," said Dr Singh.

The infection rate among female sex workers has also dropped significantly in recent years.
"There has been a lot of work going on to educate the general public - mass media campaigns, a lot of print media and education material," added Dr Singh

According to the National Aids Programme, about 5,000 people are now in a free treatment and care programme.

"I want to live, so that's why I dress and look fancy and you can't even tell that I have HIV," she said.
However, one of the biggest obstacles for the Guyanese government is how to stop further infections.

HIV is still the leading cause of death among people between the ages of 20 and 49, and the infection rate among commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men remains extremely high. source, source / (audio here)

By Emma Joseph
BBC World Service

AIDS patient Cured........

BERLIN - An American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors said.

While researchers — and the doctors themselves — caution that the case might be no more than a fluke, others say it may inspire a greater interest in gene therapy to fight the disease that claims 2 million lives each year. The virus has infected 33 million people worldwide.

Dr. Gero Huetter said Wednesday his 42-year-old patient, an American living in Berlin who was not identified, had been infected with the AIDS virus for more than a decade. But 20 months after undergoing a transplant of genetically selected bone marrow, he no longer shows signs of carrying the virus.

It has not come. Researchers at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school say tests on his bone marrow, blood and other organ tissues have all been clean.

However, Dr. Andrew Badley, director of the HIV and immunology research lab at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said those tests have probably not been extensive enough.

"A lot more scrutiny from a lot of different biological samples would be required to say it's not present," Badley said.

This isn't the first time marrow transplants have been attempted for treating AIDS or HIV infection. In 1999, an article in the journal Medical Hypotheses reviewed the results of 32 attempts reported between 1982 and 1996. In two cases, HIV was apparently eradicated, the review reported.

Huetter's patient was under treatment at Charite for both AIDS and leukemia, which developed unrelated to HIV.

Before the transplant, the patient endured powerful drugs and radiation to kill off his own infected bone marrow cells and disable his immune system — a treatment fatal to between 20 and 30 percent of recipients.

David Roth, a professor of epidemiology and international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said gene therapy as cheap and effective as current drug treatments is in very early stages of development.

Even for the patient in Berlin, the lack of a clear understanding of exactly why his AIDS has disappeared means his future is far from certain.

Source: By PATRICK McGROARTY, Associated Press Writer

Navy Ship in Guyana (Med assistance in exchange for ???)

The US Navy Ship ( U S N S ) U S S Kearsarge docked in Guyana on Sunday it will be providing medical and dental care to adults and children in Region One, while Regions Three and Four will benefit from construction projects.

The opening ceremony was held at the East Ruimveldt Community Centre, U. S. Ambassador to Guyana, John Jones, said that during the planning stages, the challenges encountered during the last visit by the USNS Comfort were taken into consideration, but the importance of the relationship with the Guyanese people was the deciding factor in ensuring the project continued. (really, something is still telling me that the US is getting something out of this exchange). He added that during that visit, more than 10,000 persons were treated and there was a high level of commitment for the project.

The USS Kearsarge will maneuver along the coast to allow for easy offloading of supplies and equipment, and to facilitate those getting on board. The mission commenced yesterday and will conclude November 22. The team will be providing medical care at the Mabaruma Learning Resource Centre, the Santa Rosa District Hospital and the Port Kaituma Secondary School.

Commander Frank Ponds ( i listened to the interview he gave reporters this week and i am suspect about this guy- but kudos to what they are doing they are helping the sick) pointed out that the Continuing Promise team comprises 1,500 members, who are just as committed as they were at the start of the mission in August. He noted that Guyana is the last stop before the team returns to the United States, having visited Nicaragua, Columbia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago.

A list of persons requiring surgeries, which was chosen from patients at the clinics, has already been compiled by the ministry.

Others who require surgeries can also be added to the list while open clinics will be conducted at the venues.

The USS Kearsarge mission was initiated in recognition of the shared history and close relationship between the United States and its hemispheric neighbours. Part of the ‘ Continuing Promise’ mission is to enhance collaboration and coordination between governments, health service providers and military personnel.

Source: Guyana Times

Nurse brutality.. call the Human Rights people!!!

A female patient in the maternity ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital last evening delivered her baby on the floor after she was reportedly neglected by the nurses who were on duty. " I keep telling y'all about government salaries, it turns even the nicest of angels into aggressive bitches, no lie"

In an invited comment about the issue, Minister of Health, Leslie Ramsammy confirmed that the nurses were indeed non- responsive to the patient calls for help, and that the hospital is taking the necessary disciplinary action against them. "I wonder what actions will be taken considering most of the time the hospital is short staffed to begin with, if they fire them , that means more work for remaining nurses = more bitchy attitudes. hmmmmm decisions decisions."

Eyewitness account: They heard the patient asking for help, the nurses simply refused to assist the patient who was crying out in pain. “ She was neglected and told that she would have to approach the desk if she wanted help,” the eyewitness said, adding that the nurse said “ We will see how you will get look after.” After hearing that statement, the woman in labour made a dash to the desk and lay down on the bed nearest to the desk; crying, she told the nurse that the infant’s head was already out. “ You have to wait, I am putting on my gloves,” one nurse reportedly responded.
The pregnant woman was then told that she would have to sit in the wheelchair to be carried to the delivery room. After insisting that the baby’s head was already out, the patient eased off her bed, causing her baby to fall out on the floor. “ I heard her water bag burst and the loud noise on the floor,” another pa tient said, noting that the infant cried for about two seconds then stopped.

Eyewitness account: The girl was then told that “ If you get a retarded baby then it will be your fault.” She was then instructed to pick the infant up.The eyewitness also alleges that it appears that the patient was beaten with a ruler when she told the nurse that she cannot reach the child.

Over recent months there have been numerous allegations of nursing staff mistreating patients at the hospital and many of them had lodged complaints to the media. The hospital has promised to investigate some of these claims, but no official word has been given in many of the cases. Maybe we should put the Human Rights people on them, in all honesty where are they now. I don't see them defending the innocent now, I really do question the motives of some of its members. But I not gonna start on them as yet.

Source: Guyana TImes

Contaminated Eggs....

According to reports in the Guyana Times Newspaper "Guyanese consumers need not worry that the eggs purchased locally are tainted by melamine, since only a tiny portion of the eggs consumed are imported and Guyana does not import eggs from China." What a relief.... Oh my, did they say "ARE TAINTED". Yeah they did.

This assurance is coming from the Ministries of Health and Commerce in light of the recent discovery by Hong Kong food inspectors that eggs imported from northeast China are contaminated with high levels of melamine, the toxic industrial additive at the centre of the milk scandal in China. The discovery of contaminated eggs in Hong Kong was announced Saturday by the Center for Food Safety, a Hong Kong government agency, which said the eggs had been imported from a farm in the city of Dalian, in north- eastern China. The centre reported that the melamine level was almost double the legal limit for food sold in Hong Kong, according to a report in the New York Times. Oh Great .......

However, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, Health Minister, told Guyana Times that “ our eggs are safe and customers should not be alarmed by reports of tainted eggs in China.” He noted that Guyana is self- sufficient in terms of table eggs, but eggs are imported from the United States for the hatching of chicks.

Nevertheless, the ministry would also be monitoring the market to ensure that the highest standards are maintained. “ We will keep an eye out and monitor the situation to ensure it remains safe,” Minister Prashad said. The two major importers of hatching eggs in Guyana are Edens Hatchery and Bounty Farms. Mind you "I had me some Eden Eggs this morning."

According to the New York Times, the findings, reported over the weekend, have raised new concerns that a far wider array of China- produced foods than previously believed could be contaminated with melamine, which has already sickened more than 50,000 children in China and led to at least four deaths.

NOTICE:
Some of the contaminated milk products were found on the local market, but have since been recalled and customers are being urged to read all labels thoroughly before consumption. Among the product lines tainted are White Rabbit, Mr Brown, Milky Evaporated Milk, Country Maid Evaporated Milk and Polly Milk.