Dear Editor,

Article 25 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care…”

As a child, my quest to escape poverty was shaped partly by my experiences at Mandeville Hospital. I remember an excellent dental clinic there but overall, it was frightening.

I was 16 when I had a real taste of what using Mandeville Hospital was like. My younger sister had broken her hand and I took her there to be treated. Day after day, we went at dawn and returned home at dusk without being attended to.

The hand was swollen and the bone sticking out. My sister cried in pain. I cried in sorrow and frustration. Eventually, we saw a doctor who put a cast on her hand and told us to come back in eight weeks. We did — and the cycle started again. After one wearying day, I went home and cut the cast off her hand.

As a journalist, I earned my first byline chronicling the chaos in the Kingston Public Hospital emergency room as one doctor tried to cope with numerous shooting and stabbing victims.

Decades later, I am saddened by the persistent deficits in the system.

Numerous stories of negligence and absence of basic equipment lead to the conclusion that little has changed and they raise baffling questions. For example, who is responsible for the state of public hospitals? Are hospital administrators mandated to provide solutions or simply manage existing chaos?

Take the University Hospital of the West Indies — the major regional teaching hospital. The institution seemed to have found a solution that works for those who can afford it — the creation of the Tony Thwaites Wing, which, by most accounts, is a modern facility with excellent patient care.

Can the same be said of the UHWI overall? On a recent visit to the orthopaedic ward, I was shocked at how dilapidated the place looked. Of course, there is no closure to the issues surrounding my father’s care and death there in September.

In my quest for information, I found that UHWI does not have a website — now a basic tool for any organisation wishing to be taken seriously, particularly when it has “university” in its name. This site should answer questions like: Who owns or runs the hospital? How can they be contacted? What are its annual estimates of income and expenditure and principal source of revenue? What is a typical doctor profile? What are its policies and procedures governing patient care? What forms do patients and relatives need to fill out for this service or that?

The Tony Thwaites Wing has its website. Across the way, CARIMAC offers classes in how to build them.

We are a poor nation, we say, but I am persuaded that the greatest poverty we face is poverty of mind.

Let us mark International Human Rights Day, December 10, with a pledge to enlightenment and a righteous desire to do better for our people.

Grace Virtue, PhD

Maryland, USA

gvirtue@usa.net