OMG Digital Magazine OMG Issue 265 29th June 2017 | Page 46

OMG Digital Magazine | 265 | Thursday 29th June 2017 • PAGE 46
FIRST HAND LOOK: Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles, second from left, and Secretary
of Infrastructure, Quarries and the Environment Kwesi Des Vignes, right, survey
the damage at a home in Patience Hill yesterday (June 20) as residents look on,
following the passing of Tropical Storm Bret over Trinidad and Tobago.
TOBAGO SPARED HOLISTIC CARE FOR
MAJOR DAMAGE CANCER PATIENTS
Tobago is set to collaborate with Washington
University School of Medicine and Rutgers
Cancer Institute of New Jersey to conduct cancer
research on the island.
This was revealed by Secretary of Health, Wellness
and Family Development Dr. Agatha Carrington,
who says this partnership with Tobago’s new
Research and Ethics Committee “will assist us
in acquiring current data to guide our decisions
[regarding] our cancer clients”.
After Tropical Storm Bret passed over
Tobago on Monday night (June 19),
Tobago’s emergency responders got
into action to assess the damage and
provide assistant to residents needed
it.
And Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles,
as well as Secretary of Infrastructure,
Quarries and the Environment Kwesi
Des Vignes, visited affected areas to get
a first-hand look at the damage that
occurred in areas such as Patience Hill
and Providence.
The Chief Secretary said Tobago has
been spared major damage. “…We are
thankful and of course praise God that
we have once again have been spared
the worst and we are looking forward
to getting things back to normal as
quickly as possible,” Charles stated
during the tour.
Charles said the THA and the Tobago
Emergency Management Agency
(TEMA) did as much as they could to
ensure the safety of Tobagonians.
The Executive Council has approved the creation
of a sustainable public-private partnership to
provide holistic cancer treatment services in
Tobago. She said the island will have “the first,
publicly-funded Cancer Treatment Centre on the
island”.
The Secretary said diagnoses affect both patients
and their loved ones, and the support of family
and friends is needed along with treatment
to aid recuperation. “Quality of life is holistic
and takes into account the physical, social
and psychological factors of that client,” Dr.
Carrington said.
She pointed to several factors, such as patients’
financial status, interpersonal relationships and
diet changes, as having an influence on recovery.