The Remote Area Medical (RAM) Guyana Inc is calling for urgent financial support for the Specialised Patient Action Network (SPAN), a pilot project aimed at linking persons suffering with special medical conditions in remote areas to treatment.
In a press release, RAM Guyana Inc said German’s Restaurant has been leading the way by supporting this project which aims to develop and coordinate the service to deliver health solutions to patients in interior locations using active networking and information technology. SPAN will serve to map and link isolated patients to the care and support they need that often exists in country or can be sourced through a network of consulting specialists.
SPAN includes concerned citizens, providers and organisations who are cognizant of the challenges of living with disease and disability in Guyana’s remote villages and are committed to helping alleviate this human suffering. It will focus on special cases that fall outside the scope of readily available care and emergency support in the interior, the release said. The model promotes public-private collaboration and that provides an opportunity for individuals and the private sector to be involved in supporting special cases.
Currently the programme has cases including scoliosis, brain tumours, heart conditions, cleft lips, club feet, cancer, mental and physical disabilities, Hansen’s disease, disfigurements, genetic conditions and even persons living with HIV/AIDS. “The goal of the initial pilot project is to track and provide case-management for individual clients which will highlight these challenges that in effect, are barriers to much needed services” and to help improve access to specialised services in close collaboration with the health and human services ministries and other partner agencies.
RAM has been working in Guyana since 1993 and has an intimate knowledge of the medical care in the interior. “Experience gained from working with cervical cancer patients in Regions, 7, 8 and 9 for example, has helped to highlight some of the issues involved,” it said. It is also experienced in local communications such as HF radio and operating a specially equipped Cessna air-ambulance to reach the most isolated areas of the country. “RAM is well positioned to help pilot a system including volunteers and case workers that can provide a key link between the isolated villager and the complex world of modern medicine.”
It noted that accurate communication, logistics and inter-agency coordination are often the keys to preventing mothers travelling back and forth to the city without having their child’s case resolved. These efforts would be given a boost when a case worker can set up and coordinate the needed appointments before the family departs their village, in order to best utilise precious resources for the family, government agencies and those who offer their support.
RAM said it has also had some good experiences with using information technology or “telemedicine” without clients ever having to leave their region, citing a case where a nine-year-old boy from Karaudarnawa with a rare skin disorder who was diagnosed for the first time using photography emailed from the Rupununi to a consulting dermatologist in the UK.
The SPAN project will also create and model a secure and confidential database of all the clients that are referred and present themselves for assistance. “The idea is to take advantage of visiting teams from the Ministry of Health and other agencies by documenting and grouping similar cases for more efficient management,” the release said. Knowing, for example, where all the cataract clients are located and how many need surgery, can help greatly when planning an intervention such as a visiting surgical outreach.
The pilot project will be completed in April 2013 and there is a current need for financial support. “We would like to thank German’s for their leadership among Georgetown businesses in stepping up to support humanitarian programmes” and encourage other agencies to get involved. RAM can be contacted on 677 6347 or at span@ramguyana.org.
