Children in Antigua & Barbuda who have been diagnosed with certain critical illnesses that require specialised treatment unavailable on the island now have a new lease on life through a collaboration between the representatives of the World Pediatric Project (WPP) and Antigua medical officials.
In January 2010, Antiguan medical officials including paediatric surgeon Dr Bazil Brown began discussions with WPP representatives in St Vincent and an agreement was given formal approval in February 2010.
Under this agreement, WPP would accept children who have certain diagnoses to be assessed and possibly treated by the project officials, in the first instance at the “hub” level in St Vincent, then in Richmond, Virginia, USA, as the case dictates.
WPP is now working to get the word out to charitable organisations and private medical institutions that often receive requests for aid from parents.
The procedure for referrals is as follows:
Child should be seen by a paediatrician and a medical report written outlining the reason for the referral.
Radiology, lab and other relevant reports should be attached to the pediatrician’s letter (parent’s responsibility).
Medical records from the hospital if relevant, should be attached (parent can apply and social worker will follow-up).
ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) Referral form should be attached as the cover sheet with all sections filled out.
All referrals with accompanying documentation will be reviewed by Dr Linda Lovell-Roberts.
Documents will be sent to Nurse Jacqueline Browne-King at the WPP office in St Vincent. A copy will be kept at MSJMC and a copy will be sent to the Chief Medical Officer’s office at the Ministry of Health.
Once the case is accepted, a social worker will speak with parents and/or guardians to discuss travel arrangements and accommodation at their destination and give a general briefing of what to expect from the programme.
All children returning from a WPP mission will report back to their paediatrician to arrange for follow-up care. Copies of documents from SVG concerning referrals will also be forwarded to the social worker.
According to a release from the WPP, 90 per cent of the world has access to just 10 per cent of the world’s medical resources, leaving thousands of children to die every single day for no other reason than where they were born. WPP offers access to these paediatric critical care resources.
The project also helps to change communities by developing programmes to prevent childhood diseases and birth defects, establishing partnerships with the medical community and building long term capacity for paediatric critical care that help save the lives of many children.
(Source http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=67120)
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