Daniel Suggests HIV Testing for Politicians

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You & Your Family

Wednesday, 12 January 2011 06:55

By SA Dixon

Minister of Health Wilmoth Daniel has issued what he described as a clarion call for all politicians to get tested for HIV, in an effort to encourage the public to do likewise.

"What I would like to suggest," he told Parliament on Monday, "because it seems to me there is a fear in the country about going for tests for the AIDS... HIV. I would like to suggest that all of us politicians volunteer to go and test. Let it be known that we are not afraid. All of us go and test for the AIDS."

Amidst response from the other side of the aisle, specifically MP for St Phillips North Robin Yearwood, the minister quipped, "Are you willing to go Robin?"

Daniel, who also spoke about his previous diagnosis and treatment for cancer, said he had been tested three times since October 2010, and would be willing to do so again.

"Some of you 'fraid," he told members of the House. "All of us should go and test, so that the young people and all the people in the country would not be afraid. We would lead by example."

Speaking about the pandemic's local effects, Daniel said, "This AIDS thing is costing the government," referencing drugs and treatment for the seriously ill who can no longer take care of themselves.

"I am no scholar, but I believe in what I am saying," the health minister prefaced his presentation by saying.

He also spoke of the cost of operating the state-of-the-art Mount St John Medical Centre, and said the government was looking to partner with an internationally recognised health organisation to focus on medical tourism.

"That building is enormously expensive Madame Speaker, and with the locals that actually go there for health services, our nation in terms of the population cannot, as it were, even if everybody take sick on a regular basis, sustain that stuff," he said.

There have already been consultations with entities in India, North America, and Nassau as the government seeks to attract world class surgeons who would rotate at the hospital when sufficient cases have been compiled. According to Daniel, a decision will soon be made on which organisation they will select.

As for local physicians, the health minister noted that he intends to replace some of the ineffective district doctors with returning graduates from Cuba.

He said there are around 46 students studying medicine, with six or seven slated to finish within the next few months.

"Them doctors that have been there working in the districts," the minister said. "They have been there for a long time, and some of them no even go no way. And if they go, they go for an hour, and then they gone back. They have their own practice."

He suggested a system that would see the Cuban-trained doctors manning the clinics until 8 pm.

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"It is impossible, Madame Speaker for this country to absorb all them doctors that are there to come," Daniel admitted. "Antigua right now in terms of the amount of doctors and lawyers... in terms of education-wise, we have a lot of intellectuals here in the country. But where are the jobs? So we have to make shifts so we can fit them in."

He also plans to open a separate diagnosis centre to identify cancer patients before they are referred to the hospital for treatment.

Daniel, speaking off the cuff, said he would like to see a national insurance company set up to cater to minimum wage earners and ease the burden on the Medical Benefits Scheme.

He also spoke of the need for urgent control of the rat population, and said ministry intends to seek help from international health bodies.

Turning to his other portfolio, Social Transformation, Daniel gave an update on the vagrant feeding programme, and said the eventual aim was to reunite the homeless with their families.

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