Rotary Club of St. Maarten and Windward Islands Medical Association members, Minister of Health Emil Lee and invited guests pose for a photo at the recently concluded Oncology conference.
BELAIR--Rotary Club of St. Maarten in conjunction with the Windward Islands Medical Association, and its Platinum sponsor NAGICO Insurances held a conference for medical professionals on the state of oncology (cancer) treatment and care in St. Maarten, at Belair Community Centre recently.
More than 100 medical professionals from around the region along with five international experts in the field of oncology participated in the two-day event.
Dr. Neinke Gonzales-Diaz, Dr. Diego Ramos, Dr. Wouter Dercksen, Dr. Marino Leon and Dr. Martijn Stuiver each spoke on their respective specialties.
Windward Islands Medical Association secretary Dr. Hidde Dekethe said, “The medical portion of the event had also a great attendance with 3/4 of all (para) medical professionals of St. Maarten present, as well as doctors and nurses from Saba and Statia.”
Oncology and palliative care in St. Maarten were given a new boost, all benefitting the population of St. Maarten and the surrounding islands.
Minister of Health Emil Lee welcomed attendees with a heartfelt and personal message that highlighted the importance of knowledge about caring for one’s own health.
More than 230 residents attended the meeting on Cancer Care, which included presentations on the state of cancer care in St. Maarten, focusing on prostate cancer and breast cancer as the most common types of cancer affecting the region.
Rotary Club of St. Maarten President John Caputo said, “This year’s conference exceeded our expectations with record attendance at the public session. We also added a live stream of the event on the Rotary Club of St. Maarten’s Facebook page for those that could not attend. The video is still online for those that would still like to view it.
“To make it even easier, the Rotary Club added free shuttle bus transportation to and from the Belair Community Centre from Dutch Quarter and St. Peters.
“Projects like this have long-lasting effects on our communities and if this programme saves just one life, we will have made a tremendous difference. We look forward to working with NAGICO for many years to come as we continue our ongoing programme of medical professional and public education. With that, ‘thank you’ to the entire team at NAGICO.”
NAGICO Insurances Marketing Manager Lisa Brown, who attended the public session, added, “It is our pleasure to support the Rotary Club of St. Maarten and the Windward Island Medical Association with this year’s initiative on cancer education and care. We loved the live streaming and we are already starting to plan our portion of next year’s public session. It just keeps getting bigger and better each year.”
For more information about Rotary Club of St. Maarten, contact the Rotary Club of St. Maarten press officer at
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