DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Alan Cantor

Wound healing in the Caribbean is beginning to gain appreciation by local governments. Universal issues of cost-effective care, physician education, and payer education are the same concerns there as elsewhere. Wounds are a major crisis in the island nations. Diabetes is quite problematic, basically due to poor compliance by the population tin accessing health care. In addition to diabetes, metabolic diseases, venous ulcers from lymphoedema and trauma and surgical wounds are extensive, costly and time-consuming to the system.

I work with Leaf of Life Foundation for Critically Ill Children, a humanitarian organization which treats critically-ill or injured children by bringing them to the USA for humanitarian care. Through these fine people, I have extended care for children to traditional wound care and education, with my contacts now organized through the Jamaican Embassy in NYC. This was the group that nominated me for the Humanitarian Award I received in May 2003 from UN. Significantly, the combined population of the Caribbean nations is nearly 17 million. larger than that of Australia and New Zealand, yet industry has devoted minimal attention to any one of the Caribbean nations because of considering them as a small market. However,.when I advised them of the total regional population, many eyes were opened in the companies with a retooling of resources etc. The island doctors will travel from island to island for a seminar etc., as this is their way of life. They simply fly their own planes to Jamaica to learn, then fly home to their own island, another aspect that industry was unaware of until we debriefed them.

Presently, we are planning a week long visit in March with a 3-fold objective:
1. Wound education/training/clinical hands-on hospital care.
2. Pilot program: Sickle cell testing for all newborns in the Caribbean. This has met with overwhelming enthusiasm from governments and physicians.
3. Same for testing for cretinism.

The testing programs are being coordinated by myself, the embassies and a physician from Columbia University, who is a pediatric neurologist/intensivist.

We travel to numerous clinical settings, and often I find myself at a loss as to what to do, because of the lack of products. The regional clinicians actually teach me just as much as I teach them!

We always look for any support from pharmaceutical/wound care companies and they have responded each time I have asked for donated products. Anyone in industry or clinical/research interested in joining our team can contact me at listed contact information below:

Work: 516-579-3338
Fax: 516-579-3519

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