Parents of the students who recently left to take up scholarships in Cuba are said to be worried about reports of side effects from drugs the children have had to take since arriving.
One hundred and twenty-four Guyanese students left for Cuba over a week ago and some members of the media yesterday told the minister of calls they have been receiving from worried parents who claim that their children are being seriously affected by the drugs.
Public Service Minister, Jennifer Westford, called a press conference yesterday to clear “the air” since she had received a number of calls from the media about complaints from parents. She announced that a doctor who recently returned from studying in Cuba will be returning to that country today for six months to assist the students in settling in. She said it is mandatory policy in Cuba for all foreign students to undergo a period of medical examination for various tests, which include filaria and typhoid fever. Stool and urine tests are also mandatory for all students upon their arrival in the country.
As part of the medical treatment students are given a prescribed drug for malaria in the form of a chloroquinine tablet which can cause side effects such as nausea and vomiting.
There have been reports that children were vomiting, bleeding through the nose and in the case of the girls, haemorrhaging.
Some parents also reportedly say their children were given an overdose of the drugs.
“I am sure that is what some of the students who would have contacted their parents would have told them: that they had something to drink which has made them vomit or has them upset. And that is as far as it goes, there is nothing to be worried about,” the minister said.
“And there is no such thing as anyone being given any injection or overdose of any drugs,” she continued.
Westford said the same drug is given, according to weight and age, to individuals who visit Regions Two, Three, Seven and Eight in order to build their resistance to malaria. Westford said she lived and worked in the interior for a number of years and had to take the tablet with no side effects.
She explained that not all those who take the prescription would experience the side effects and suggested that those persons who suffered nausea and dizziness are those who might not have eaten before taking the pill.
She said she had studied in Cuba and knowing the environment admitted that it would take some time for the students to settle in.
In relation to reports of haemorrhaging, the minister said if the reports are true it would be females who are close to getting their period and might have taken something which caused it to come earlier than was expected.
She said at the airport in Cuba there were two students who bled through the nose and while one parent said it was something that had happened to her child before, the other parent said it was the first time.
Westford attributed the bleeding through the nose to the change of climate, since at this time of the year Cuba is very cold.
She said she had experienced the same thing for the first time in her life when she visited Cuba to study.
The minister said she will be travelling there soon to assist the students in settling in while plans are in train to have a senior official from the ministry stationed permanently at Guyana’s embassy to deal with complaints.
She made contact with some fifteen parents yesterday and out of that number only three said their children complained of being unwell.
Presently the students are in the care of the Cuban Government with whom the minister said her ministry has been in constant contact. However, she later said there was some trouble with the phone connection.
She added that the students were not told about the drug programme prior to leaving because so few people suffer from side effects.
She wanted to assure the parents that the Cuban Government takes very good care of foreign students but if any parent wanted their child to come home, it was their right.