An urgent call has been made for more doctors to specialise in the field of otolaryngology to address the backlog of cases dealing with the ear, nose and throat (ENT).
Making the call was Dr Solaiman Juman, a medical otorhinolaryngologist who was speaking at the opening of the Caribbean Association of Otolaryngology’s annual conference held at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain yesterday.
“Right now we need about ten more ENT specialists to cope with the numbers because it is estimated that for every 100,000 citizens we need at least one.
“We should have at least 15 in the country but we only have about six or seven,” Juman said.
Performing surgeries also posed a problem as there were not enough operating theatres available.
“We need to look at identifying within the main hospitals particular units dedicated to ENT that have the resources including manpower.
“I work at Mt Hope and the major issue is that we are not getting enough operating time in theatres and that is causing some delay. Overall we have a lot of doctors who are willing to work but the infrastructure is not there to do the job that they need to do,” Juman said.
He said apart from the limited space there were many other cases which take priority over ENT cases, resulting in a backlog of surgeries.
While most of the major surgeries could be performed locally, cochlear implantation for hearing impaired children has to be done abroad.
“We have the access for specialists to come down here to do it but one of the problems is the cost. The implant itself is US$20,000 but regarding investment, we are trying to see if we can get politicians and industries involved.
“If you can intervene in a child who is hearing impaired and give them hearing that child becomes more productive not only for themselves but for society,” Juman said.
He said otolaryngology was a small field and only five years ago through the University of the West Indies (UWI), a postgraduate training programme in ENT began.
“The programme has been running for about five years and it is about six years long so we still have a couple of years before we start producing specialists.
“Throughout the Caribbean, not only in Trinidad, we have a shortage of ENT doctors so we are looking forward to contributing not only nationally but regionally in producing ENT doctors in the present and in the future,” Juman said.
He said since the programme started there was an overwhelming response from people interested in the field.
“So the future is looking good but it is going to take some time,” Juman added.
He said while otolaryngology covered a range of issues, one of the more pressing ones was that of throat cancer which has been linked to oral sex.
Over the years, Juman added, there has been an increase in the number of patients with throat cancer.
“One of the recent risk factors which have been identified for cancer of the oral cavity is the HPV Virus and it is possible through oral sex,” Juman said.
Health Minister Dr Terrence Deyalsingh, who was supposed to deliver the welcome address, did not attend.