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OECS working towards implementation of specialised cancer services

OECS working towards implementation of specialised cancer services

OECS Media Release

Key stakeholders met in Martinique yesterday to further concretise plans for a project that will facilitate the availability of cancer tests that are currently not available in the OECS region. 

The Territorial Authority of Martinique has committed to the installation of the Cyclotron machine, which will produce radioisotopes needed for PET-CT scanning – used in the staging and management of various forms of cancer.

The OECS Health Unit and The Cancer Centre Eastern Caribbean (TCCEC), headquarted in Antigua, are represented on the steering committee for the Cyclotron and will support the development of the project.

The steering committee has also tasked a smaller Technical Working Group with initial planning to support the development of the human resources and infrastructure needed for development of this sophisticated technology in the region.

OECS Director General, Dr. Didacus Jules, said this initiative is another step in the right direction as the sub region strives towards improved health care.

“Cooperation in health care continues to be the driving force of the sub region's health sector."

"We saw the first successfully completed kidney transplant performed in Antigua and Barbuda earlier this year – a significant milestone for the OECS.”

“The establishment of the Cyclotron in Martinique is another first and will provide much needed cancer treatment services to OECS nationals," commented Dr. Jules. 

Dr.  Conville Brown, Chairman and CEO of TCCEC expressed optimism that the new machine would be available to citizens within the sub region in the near future.

“We expect to have PET-CT scanning services within the next 18 months, so that cancer patients no longer have to travel outside of the OECS to access this technology,” Dr. Brown said.

Contact us
Dr. Carlene Radix Head, OECS Health Unit, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Ramon Peachey OECS Communications, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Tahira Carter OECS Communications, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Doris Nol OECS Communications, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Dr. Carlene Radix Head, OECS Health Unit, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Ramon Peachey OECS Communications, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Tahira Carter OECS Communications, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Doris Nol OECS Communications, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
About The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

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The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is an International Organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance among independent and non-independent countries in the Eastern Caribbean. The OECS came into being on June 18th 1981, when seven Eastern Caribbean countries signed a treaty agreeing to cooperate with each other while promoting unity and solidarity among its Members. The Treaty became known as the Treaty of Basseterre, so named in honour of the capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis where it was signed. The OECS today, currently has eleven members, spread across the Eastern Caribbean comprising Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique and Guadeloupe. 

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