Publication: Weekend Nation
Paper Section And Page: 8
Paper Date: Fri, Aug 31, 2001
Byline: Irene Sandiford-Garner
DURING this past week I had two relatives who had some symptoms closely akin to dengue fever but luckily it was not what we thought.
You cannot imagine my relief. If you knew what I know about the state of some areas of our health system you will understand why I pray daily that friends and family be spared serious illness and injury.
If they had indeed caught dengue, I wonder if they would be among those Barbadians who are lucky enough to ever find out. Did you know that up until last week, there were 300 blood samples sitting down for five months because there were no testing kits available?
The kits cost between BDS$400 to $1 000, I understand, but for five whole months there were none. It was reported that there were problems with Central Purchasing, but who knows?
What I do know is that I am now quite skeptical when I hear the authorities releasing dengue statistics. I don't trust them. How can we be sure which strains are here? How can we be sure of the exact number of cases? How do we know if the five suspected dengue deaths are indeed five?
These issues may seem small, but they are not. The testing of blood is critical to the diagnoses of certain illnesses. People can die if their illnesses are not diagnosed in time or if the diagnosis is incorrect. Three hundred blood samples is a lot of people, and five months is a long time.
Someone said that the blood is good for testing for a couple years after it has been taken as long as it is stored properly. But pray tell me, if I had dengue last week, what good would the results of my blood test be to me or the country if it was tested a year from now?
Whose responsibility is it to see that the money we need for these processes is budgeted for and well-spent? Whose responsibility was it to see that we had the kits in stock and that our testing and screening systems were not compromised? I have not heard if the kits finally arrived and if the five-month-old blood has been tested and the results recorded.
Still on the topic of samples, but of another kind, how is it that we see small items on shelves here marked "sample not for sale" with price tags on them? They are usually in the pharmaceutical and personal care categories of items - creams, tablets and so on. If they are samples and not for sale, I am sure the supplier would have given them out to be distributed to customers for free. Whose job is it to monitor this activity?
We are really slipping up.