WESTERN BUREAU- Eighteen-year-old Tashanna Powell and her three-week-old baby, Melvin Dixon were among the hundreds of persons who benefited from the 11th annual Atlanta/Montego Bay Sister Cities health mission, held in St James.

Tashanna had heard from her mother that the medical team from Atlanta would be providing free medical care at the St John’s Methodist Church Hall, so she decided to take little Melvin to get a medical examination.

“My mother told me that they were coming, so I decided to take the baby to get a check-up, because sometimes his belly is griping,” Powell told the Observer on Monday.

She considered herself lucky that day as her baby, which was prematurely-born after the passage of Hurricane Ivan and weighing a little over two pounds at birth, got the opportunity to be examined one of the four paediatricians at the fair.

After a thorough examination of the baby the pediatrician said, however, that although the child weighed a mere four pounds, he was in good health.

The baby and her teenage mother were given with a wide variety of pharmaceutical supplies and toiletries by head of the mission Yvonne Smith.

Powell was grateful.

“I am happy that I was able to come with my baby and to receive all of these supplies – I am really grateful,” she said.

The annual health fair, which ran from Monday to Wednesday, formed part of the celebrations that marked city status week in Montego Bay.

Jamaica’s Honorary Counsel in Atlanta Vin Martin, who chairs the Sister Cities Committee, told the Observer that this year’s team consisted of 40 health professionals included specialists in the areas of ophthalmology, gynaecology, dentistry, pediatrics and internal medicine.

The team was supported by six local doctors, nine student nurses and about 30 non-medical volunteers.

Up to last year, the medical teams had treated more than 25,000 persons and donated drugs and other supplies valued at over $37 million.

This year, Martin said, the goal was to provide medical care to about 3,000 persons and provide drugs and other supplies to the tune of $1.5 million.

He stressed, however, that the value of the services provided by the health professionals was worth far more than the cost of the medical supplies.

“All of these people are employees or have their own practices so it is not that we have retired physicians and nurses with us,” Martin argued. “Everybody has a job or a practice and so when you have some 40 people giving up their time, the value of that cannot be quantified.”

He added that all the US-based volunteers who participated in the health mission paid their own airfares and hotel accommodation.

Director of the health mission Dr Yvonne Smith said this year, her team focused on the large number of persons in the island who are affected by diabetes.

“Based on our 10-year experience, we have seen a lot of diabetics, many of whom have (high) blood sugar (levels) that are out of control, so we think that a little education in that area is needed,” Smith pointed out.

She added that a forum on diabetes is being arranged to educate persons on the causes of, and treatment for diabetes.

Dr Smith, who was born in Jamaica, has attended 10 of the 11 Atlanta health missions that have been held in Montego Bay.

On Monday, she told the Observer that her decision to give her time and service to the people came from her desire to help people who are in need.

“I just like helping people and this, I believe, is a gift that God has given me,” Dr Smith said.

The programme is supported by Air Jamaica, El Greco Resorts, Caribic Vacations, the St James Health Department and LASCO pharmaceuticals