By Eulalee Thompson,
Staff Reporter
Dr. Trevor McCartney (left), Kingston Public Hospital's Senior Medical Officer, talking with Health Minister John Junior (centre) and Professor Owen Morgan, Dean of the University of the West Indies' Faculty of Medical Sciences, during a break yesterday at the faculty's ninth annual research conference. It took place at the university's main medical lecture theatre. - Dennis Coke
ONLY TWO new cases of lead poisoning were identified in the community of Fraser's Content (Red Pond), St. Catherine, since the launch of a decontamination and education project in 1994, according to Dr. Paul Singh, researcher at the University of the West Indies.
This low-income community was thrust into the public's eye in the early 1990s when a proliferation of "backyard battery repair shops" resulted in high levels of lead poisoning among residents, especially small children. However, in 1994, Blue Cross of Jamaica launched a project that removed the lead-contaminated top soil from the community and deposited it at an unknown site. Also, the project educated the community on the effects of lead on their health.
Dr. Singh, who was yesterday presenting his research at the Faculty of Medical Sciences ninth annual research conference, noted however that although the residents had become more conscious of lead poisoning through the education project, the intervention had not been able to sustain their entrepreneurial initiative. Only 10 per cent of the community has regular work, he said.
Several other papers representing the product of original research by students and faculty members were presented at the conference on the topics of nutrition and toxicity; mental and dental health, chronic diseases, women's health and sexually-transmitted diseases.
Professor Owen Morgan, Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, said it was important for the medical school to continue its research tradition. He said the annual research conference introduce students to the rigours of scientific methodology and would expose the faculty's work to the general public.
Health Minister John Junor said the magnitude of the current health problems, coupled with the resource gap, underscored the importance of medical research. Chronic lifestyle diseases, for example, was one area where more research could be done.
