GUYANA CHRONICLE, NOV 21 --- UNDER the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, some Guyanese were allowed to pursue studies in Human Medicine in Cuba although some of them were rejected and not suitably and adequately qualified to even enter the local programme being run at the University of Guyana (UG).This shocking revelation was made by Public Health Minister, Dr. George Norton during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Thursday. Another top official at UG has told this newspaper that some of the students had even been forced to return home from the scholarship programme and could not cope with the work at the Turkeyen institution.
“It requires less academic qualification to study medicine in Cuba than to study medicine at the University of Guyana School of Medicine,” Dr. Norton said. “Students were promised medical scholarships to Cuba whether or not their academic status was known, as a gift by very high ranking politicians,” he further explained.
Under the PPP/C Government, scholarships were issued through the Ministry of Public Service and Norton said this was done without a proper system for selecting them in place and many a times, little, if any at all, of these awards were made known to the public, especially in the post graduate level. Under this new dispensation, scholarships are now being issued through the Department of Public Service under the Ministry of the Presidency, with a rigid system in place.
Minister Norton said though his ministry is involved in the process of admission, it should not and will not be compromised under this government, with respect to the academic qualifications of the awardees.
“You cannot compromise on the standard of admission to do medicine.” He is of the opinion that the University of Guyana School of Medicine should be the first preference before consideration is given to other international scholarship in the field of medicine.
However, during an exclusive interview with the Chronicle on Thursday, Cuba’s Ambassador to Guyana Julio CÉsar GonzÁlez Marchante said he is unaware of the allegation being peddled against the PPP/C Government. To date approximately 600 Guyanese have been trained as medical doctors in Cuba under the Guyana/Cuba Medical Scholarship Programme, with an additional 200 expected to be trained within the next two years.
“We expect that within the next two years, we will have around 800 persons graduating as medical doctors,” Ambassador Marchante said. Just last August, 18 students graduated as medical doctors after completing seven years of studies under the Guyana-Cuba scholarship programme. The medical doctors, who started their training as students seven years ago, spent the first six years in Cuba and did one year of internship training at the Suddie Hospital on their return to Guyana.
While Cuba is “happy” to assist in the development of Guyana’s human capital, the number of Guyanese that will be trained in the area of Human Medicine will be reduced significantly with more emphasis being placed on specialisation.
“So for a population like Guyana which has about 800,000 persons, to have 800 people graduated as doctors in the Cuban institutions, we believe that this is an important contribution…(but)…a lot of the people who graduated they are general doctors, now we need specialised doctors,” Ambassador Marchante said even as he pointed that there is only one neurologist in Guyana – Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi – who would have also studied in Cuba. “We also have Dr. George Norton who would have graduated in Cuba as an Ophthalmologist. We are proud to have a Cuban trained doctor function as a Minister of Government.”
Based on his assessment of Guyana’s Health Care Sector, the Cuban Ambassador said the Guyanese Government is not only improving its human capital but has worked simultaneously to establish additional health facilities – be it hospitals, diagnostic centres or health centres. Ambassador Marchante said he is happy to see Guyana moving in the direction of preventative health care services, thereby teaching Guyanese how to live healthier lives by reducing the risk of having non-communicable and communicable diseases.
Former Presidents of Guyana and Cuba, Bharrat Jagdeo and Fidel Castro respectively, had initiated the Government of Guyana/Cuba Scholarship Programme. The Governments had agreed for 500 Guyanese students to be trained in Cuba in the disciplines of medicine, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, culture, sport, agriculture, and architecture among others. At that time, Guyana was experiencing a shortage of doctors. Prior to this, a normal quota of 25 was sent for training.
