This country’s partnership with the World Paediatric Project (WPP) has again come in for high praises, with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) having declared the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to be the centre of excellence for paediatric care in the OECS.
This was disclosed by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves while speaking to reporters during a Press Conference at Cabinet Room on Monday January 15, 2018.
Prime Minister Gonsalves said the WPP makes it possible for children and young people from birth to 21-years to have first world critical paediatric care including complicated surgical interventions at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.
Where there are special cases of particular complexities which may require additional support facilities, Dr. Gonsalves said the children are then taken to the United States where the transportation and treatment are also free.
“It is an absolutely incredible program, fully integrated into our health system” he said.
Prime Minister Gonsalves explained that his government has built an additional operating theatre at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital for use exclusively by the WPP who also assisted in equipping the facility. He also pointed out that the Paediatric Ward has been refurbished and modernized with funds from the Government, the European Union, the Mustique Charitable Trust and the WPP.
The Prime Minister said that under the WPP, people come to St. Vincent and the Grenadines from places like Suriname, Guyana, Barbados and all over the OECS for treatment which they get here free.
The World Paediatric Project started its operations here in 2002, and according to Prime Minister Gonsalves since that time they have performed 9,726 evaluations and conducted 1,139 surgical procedures for children and young people from across the region.
Of those figures, St. Vincent and the Grenadines accounts for 6,640 of the evaluations and 853 surgical procedures. Additionally, 346 children have gone to the United States for Advanced surgical procedures, 169 of whom are from St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
According to Dr. Gonsalves the total value of the contribution of the WPP’s service thus far to the Eastern Caribbean is 137.4 million, of which the value of their service to St. Vincent and the Grenadines is 65.4 million EC dollars.
“In the US, you cannot get this service unless you get proper insurance, here you get it for free” the Prime Minister said.
Over thirty Personnel of the Executive Board of the World Paediatric Project including the International and local personnel are in state this week for several important meetings.
