Health Minister meets aspiring US doctors

The students are part of a 22-member group being hosted in Trinidad and Tobago (TT) for two weeks by the Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT), as part of the Spelman College Overseas Programme.

AFETT said the students’ questions ranged from diabetes to hypertension, infant mortality and HIV/AIDS in TT, during their session with Deyalsingh and Chief Medical Officer, Dr Roshan Parasaram, at the ministry’s head office, Park Street, Portof- Spain. Director of the Health Careers Programmes of Spelman College and advisor to the students, Dr Rosalind C. Gregory-Bass, and AFETT President, Tricia Leid, were also present during the meeting.

One student, who is presently doing research on HIV/AIDs, asked Deyalsingh if the improved quality of HIV drugs available has shown a decrease in cases being reported in recent years.

AFETT said the minister stated that in the 1980s, during the worldwide AIDs scare, many young adults today were not yet born.

Nowadays their lack of knowledge of the implications can therefore lead to more risky behaviour.

Asked about infant mortality in TT, Deyalsingh advised that whereas challenges had been faced in the past at public institutions, TT has since met the international antenatal care goals.

He pointed out that for every 18,000 births, there should be no more than three deaths, and for 2017 no deaths have been reported for newborns at the hospitals.

The Spelman College students learned too about this country’s public health system, most notably that health care is primarily free.

This is the second visit to Trinidad by students participating in the Spelman College Overseas programme.

During their time here, all 22 students will visit the St James Health Care Facility, the San Fernando Teaching College and the PoS General Hospital.

The first visit took place in 2015 when AFETT facilitated a group of business students at different organisations throughout Trinidad, including the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT) and the National Insurance Property Development Company Limited (NIPDEC).