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  • 1 year ago
The Cancer Centre of Trinidad and Tobago South has been opened.
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh says, it part of his vision on decentralising healthcare.
Alicia Boucher has the highlights from the opening.
Transcript
00:00The space that was once the Augustus Long Hospital in Pointe Au Pair has been transformed
00:05and is now home to the new Cancer Center of Trinidad and Tobago South, which has facilitated
00:10the relocation of oncology services from the San Fernando General Hospital.
00:16Minister of Health Terence Yalsing believes the new facility and what it represents in
00:21terms of decentralizing health care will better serve the public by bridging time and distance.
00:28Because one of the main factors that discourage Trinidadians and Tobagonians from seeking
00:33help is distance and time and expense, especially for those of the lower socioeconomic groups
00:40to pay taxi fare to reach St. James.
00:43So this is going to really help people, you know, maintain their regime, whether it's
00:49on pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy, and have more equitable access to services.
00:56The Center plans to keep upgrading the services the Cancer Center will offer, as it is being
01:00referred to as a phased project.
01:03So we're starting up now with outpatient palliative care, as well as oncology services, and in
01:07the event you're going to move to a theatre service, it's going to have a uro-oncology
01:10here, as well as gynae-oncology.
01:12We're going to perform colposcopy here, which is what we've been doing at San Fernando
01:15General Hospital.
01:16And as time goes on, we're going to further expand our services.
01:19So this is not something that will happen now, but we can think about it in the future.
01:23Executive Officer of the Southwest Regional Health Authority, Dr. Brian Amoh, could not
01:28provide a cost of the project at the time of the opening, but he has given some insight
01:33into it.
01:34I'll have to get back to you with the actual figure, of course.
01:36But we built it within our capital expenses in part, and we have the current operational
01:41expenses, and this has been strategically planned over the last two years.
01:44So therefore, it's not to say that it is a lonesome.
01:47So we have strategically built it.
01:50I remember here with the COVID pandemic, we did some infrastructure through the COVID
01:54pandemic that has a residual impact to further enhance.
01:57Chairman of Heritage Petroleum, Michael Kwamena, Senior Counsel, notes that during the pandemic,
02:03upgrades were done to the infrastructure at the hospital by Trinidad Petroleum Holdings
02:07Ltd. before it was handed over to the SWRHA.
02:11He says cancer is no longer a death sentence for everyone, as many have been able to fight
02:17it with modern health care.
02:19Aided in no small part by the extraordinary work of dedicated professionals and facilities
02:25such as this.
02:27As Chairman of the TPHL, I am pleased to reaffirm my Board's support for this noble initiative
02:33and hope that this cancer centre will be seen as a legacy of TPHL's commitment to supporting
02:40the well-being of Trinidad and Tobago as a whole and the southern region in particular.
02:46Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
02:49For more information visit www.fema.gov
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