A team of Niagara Health physicians is readying to travel to Guyana to provide healthcare to people facing barriers.Led by retired vascular surgeon Dr. Budhendranauth Doobay, fellow vascular surgeons Dr. Surianarayanan Rammohan and Dr. Faysal Naji, and family physician Dr. Jennifer Frendo will perform fistula procedures to create long-lasting dialysis access points for patients with kidney disease. Some in the group have been making the trip regularly since 2010 after Dr. Doobay travelled to his birth nation and noticed significant need for improved kidney disease treatment, particularly for patients in late stages of the illness. Dr. Doobay says fistula procedures, which connect an artery and vein, and can withstand dialysis treatment several times a week for years without collapsing, aren’t common practice in Guyana, and without proper, sustained treatment, which fistulas can facilitate, kidney disease can be fatal.
