Health Minister vows to partner with Barbados Diaspora Collaborative USA on Barbados Hospice Project

The Barbados Minister of Health Hon. Donville Inniss, MP declared the intention of the Barbados government to partner with the Barbados Diaspora Collaborative USA in the establishment of a free standing hospice in Barbados. The Minister made this declaration in his keynote address  at a fundraiser held by the collaborative on Sunday, September 25, 2011 at Floral Terrace in Floral Park, NY in aid of the hospice initiative.  He noted that his ministry was recently in receipt of a commissioned concept paper on hospice and palliative care in Barbados and welcomed integration with the Diaspora initiative.

Factors cited as supporting the need for such an option in Barbados are: the aging of the population; increase in the incidence of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs)- a worldwide phenomenon, changing family dynamics and limited end of life hospice/palliative care options.

The event was attended by the Consul General of Barbados at New York, Hon. Lennox Price and Mrs. Price, Andre Padmore, Consul at New York, members of the collaborative and their friends and supporters from the greater New York area and eastern seaboard.

Sponsors included the Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union Ltd, the Barbados Tourism Authority and banker Gail Brathwaite. Support was also obtained from Golden Sands, Jet Blue, Mango Bay, Sandals and the Sandpiper.

BACA and the collaborative thank all those who supported the fundraiser by their presence, donations, or purchase of ads.

Watch this page for ongoing updates on the hospice project.

Symposium on  Pancreatic Cancer held September 24, 2011

BACA and the Caribbean American Medical & Scientific Association  (CAMSA), Inc. presented a Symposium on Pancreatic Cancer on Saturday, September 24, 2011 at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Brroklyn, NY. The symposium was held under the distinguished patronage of Hon. Lennox Price, Consul General of Barbados at New York and faculty were: Ed Alleyne, Phd, President of CAMSA; Deborah Brathwaite, MD, Attending Physician, Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center; Neil Mandava, MD, Chief of Surgery, Flushing Hospital Medical Center; Chrisita Powlett, MB, BS, Registrar, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados; Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix, JD, Administrative Judge for Civil Matters, Second Judicial District, NY; Janice Powers, JD of the law firm of Aaronson Rappaport Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP and Eleni Coffinas, JD of the law firm of Sullivan Papain Block MJcGrath & Cannavo, PC.

The medical faculty provided an overview of pancreatic cancer in Barbados and the US and the legal experts spoke to the question of health care privacy for public officials using the illness and death of Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson as a focal point.

BACA recently donated computer hardware and software to the Chronic Disease Research Centre in Barbados to assist in data collection and encryption by the National Cancer Registry.