#Nassau, April 27, 2019 – Bahamas – The University of West Indies (UWI) School of Clinical Medicine and Research (SCMR) The Bahamas, in conjunction with the University of Miami (UM), Leonard Miller School of Medicine, and the International Gynecological Cancer Society (IGCS) announced a healthcare partnership that is hoped to reverse the “unacceptable” rate of ovarian cancer in The Bahamas.
Dr. Robin Roberts, Director,
UWI SCMR announced the official launch of a fellowship training programme
between the faculty of Medical Sciences of UWI in The Bahamas at the Princess
Margaret Hospital, and the University of Miami during a press conference
Thursday, April 25, 2019.
Among those present for the
formal announcement of the Memorandum of Understanding was Mary Eiken, CEO,
IGCS; Dr. Michael Paidas, Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, UM; Dr.
Brian Slomovitz, Director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology; Dr. Matthew
Schlumbrecht, Director for the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship; Dr. Raleigh
Butler, Consultant, Coordinator Gynecologic Oncology Fellowships, UWI SCMR; Dr.
Darron Halliday and Dr. Geremias Rangel.
Dr. Roberts said the two-year
programme will allow specialists in obstetrics and gynecology to further
advance in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers arising in the reproductive
organs of women and to become designated gynecological cancer experts.
“Every month in The Bahamas, on
average, we bury at least one woman who dies from cancer of the cervix. This
should not happen today. In the modern practice of medicine no woman should die
from cervical cancer. It’s a totally preventable disease.
“We know too that cancer of the
ovary is deadly. We diagnose on average one per month in The Bahamas; almost
75% die from their disease. We know that we can detect this long before it
occurs because up to 40% of our women inherit the gene that causes this ovarian
cancer. We can prevent these deaths too if we have a genetic screening
programme for relatives of women who are diagnosed with this disease,” said Dr.
Roberts.
Dr. Roberts described the
partnership as a “red letter” day in health in The Bahamas. He said the
Fellowship was launched in July 2018 and aims to “reduce” and “eradicate” the
burden of female reproductive cancers in “low resource” countries including The
Bahamas.
“I would be remiss not to
inform that this collaboration between our PMH departments, the Oncology Unit
at PMH, the UWI and UM commenced some time ago with the highlight being the
discovery of the breast cancer gene mutations in Bahamian women. The research
revealed that The Bahamas has the highest occurrence of breast cancer genes in
the world,” said Dr. Roberts.
“The collaborative research
between our institutions is ongoing; but more importantly this rich collegial
environment we have created, fosters direct patient consultation in the daily
management and care of our patients and for the transfer of patients between us
which lends for continuing and coordinated cancer care.”
In addition to The Bahamas,
gynecologists will be stationed and trained in Florida, Canada, Ireland, the
University of Miami in Florida, and throughout the Caribbean.
The programme is funded by the
International Gynecological Cancer Society and the University of Miami.
Dr. Geremias Rangel, a native
of Guyana, is the first Fellow. Dr. Saida Bowe, is the first Bahamian Fellow in the
programme and is posted at University of Miami.
Mrs. Eiken said through the
partnership, the burden of the disease can be reduced in the region through
awareness, highly trained surgical skills, screening, vaccination and other
ways.
She said the International
Gynecological Cancer Society will provide not only resources and funding but
also some of the infrastructure and educational exchanges that will happen as
part of the fellowship training and examination to cause a certificate to be
issued to the trainee.
Cases will be tracked and
information logged in a system.
An oversight committee will
monitor the progress of the Fellows ensuring that they are progressing along a
designated path to completion.
By Kathryn Campbell
Release: BIS
Photo Captions:
Header: A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the University of West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research, The Bahamas; University of Miami Leonard Miller School of Medicine; and the International Gynecological Cancer Society to provide collaborative training to advancethe diagnosis and treatment of gynecological cancer in The Bahamas. The MOU was signed April 25, 2019 at the UWI School of Clinical Medicine and Research, located on the compound of Princess Margaret Hospital. (BIS Photo/Derek Smith)
Insert: Dr. Robin Roberts.
(BIS Photo/Derek Smith)