Dr Neville Graham, with his mobile clinics initiative, continues to serve the vulnerable months after Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica, devastating sections of western Jamaica.

One of the programme’s most recent health fairs, which took place at the Unity Primary School in Bunkers Hill in Trelawny, was well received by the more than 300 residents who benefitted.

“What we have done, I think we have really made a difference in both seeing and making our patients happy. Many of them ran out of medication and many of them have conditions that are needed to be treated and so from a medical point of view, I think we have done an excellent job – that is the doctors and the nurses and the health care professionals.

“I think the social workers and all those people have done an excellent job and that is reflected in how the people thank us. When I talked to the principal of the school, I could see where she was very pleased with the effort. The people in the community helped us to set up and we transformed the school into both a health care clinic as well as a social intervention institution. I think that is good,” Graham told the Jamaica Observer.

Graham is a laparoscopic surgeon, an associate professor and is the founder and former dean of the Caribbean School of Medical Sciences. He is also the founder of the Winchester Medical and Surgical Institute.

Dr Neville Graham

According to him, continuing the initiative is very important because of the vast number of people, particularly the elderly, who were left wanting after Hurricane Melissa, as it relates to medical and pharmaceutical services.

“The people who were affected by Melissa and the people in the lower economic strata, sometimes have difficulty accessing medical care. So we organised this through a group of organisations that do medical intervention to assist people with medication, personal items as well as items that can help to bring back household articles that were damaged,” Graham said, pointing out that he was beyond grateful for the support of partner entities.

“Even before the hurricane we had an annual health fair with the medical school and Winchester Medical. Now, it has expanded. When we started the mobile clinic, we had different organisations and personnel that came in like Island Car Rentals. Island Car Rentals assisted us with vehicles. The Cari-Med Group assisted us with medication. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Management assisted us with care packages and tarpaulins. The Jamaican Cuban Friendship Association became part of the group as well,” he said.

Based on the level of support that the programme had been receiving from Cuban healthcare professionals through the Jamaican Cuban Friendship Association, Graham expressed disappointment that the Government of Jamaica recently cut ties with medical aspect of the programme.

A nurse fits a pair of glasses on a patient at the health fair in Bunkers Hill.

“It is extremely unfortunate that that has happened. There are different views about the matter. It is too coincidental that after Marco Rubio’s visit it became a problem. It was never a problem in this country until after Rubio’s visit and threats against Cuba and Venezuela. The whole Caribbean, Caribbean Community and some countries have folded under the US pressure. Many people including the Cubans I think, look to Jamaica because of our international respect and stance.

“Therefore it was a pressure that the government should not have succumbed to. We should be more principled and ask for more collaboration and cooperation no matter the consequences. The Cubans, for over 50 years have contributed to our health care and many of our sick people from all walks of life. Cuba has given more 1,500 scholarships to Jamaicans, not only in medicine but in other areas and this has assisted our country and us as individuals,” Graham said.

He added that, “With this situation, we are going to experience a tremendous loss as a country and there is nobody in the United States government who has said okay, we will send 50 scholarships to Jamaican students, we will send doctors or teachers to Jamaica. Nothing! We just succumbed to threats and that is it. That is why I have looked at the mobile clinic intervention group as an important group that will continue to assist people like this in areas like Bunkers Hill and areas that were affected by the Hurricane to make their lives better.”

Among those who took advantage of the services offered at the recent health fair in Bunkers Hill was 27-year-old Donica Downer and her four-year-old son, Jordaine Reid.

Doctors attending to patients at the health fair in Bunkers Hill.

“I went to the eye clinic and now I am in line to see the medical doctor. They said I have astigmatism and farsightedness. They recommended me to get glasses. Wherever they have it they are going to make me go and get it there for free. It’s been five years since I have had this glasses and they told me that I wasn’t supposed to have it so long. They said I should be changing it every two years.

Bernard Thomas, who has only one leg, is not a resident of Bunkers Hill, but decided that he had to jump on his bicycle and travel a couple miles from home just to take advantage of the services that were offered by the more than 10 doctors and dentists.

“I feel good about it because I got through and all I have to do now is collect the medication. I checked everything. The doctors said I have high blood pressure, which I didn’t know. The eye wasn’t working well and they looked at it and they did other things. I wouldn’t mind if they could come again, because the hurricane lick we hard and we need these services,” Thomas shared.

The fair was held in collaboration with the Golden Eye Foundation, The Rotary Club of New Kingston, the Mona School of Dentistry and Global Health Care among others.