Charities play a critical role – Mottley

Over the last nine years, the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) has donated over $600, 000 in equipment to polyclinics across the island.

This morning, the Eunice Gibson Polyclinic received its last tranche from the BIBA Charity. BIBA president Julia Hope revealed the medical equipment and furniture included a dental chair, three vitals signs monitors, five fetal handheld ultrasound machines and two examination tables.

“This marks the culmination of efforts by members and friends of BIBA over the past three years to support the BIBA Charity in its bid to make a significant donation of much-needed equipment to the polyclinic this year valued at over $200, 000.

“Through the absolute generosity of the friends and family of BIBA, this donation adds to the over $600, 000 worth of equipment that the BIBA Charity has presented to the QEH [Queen Elizabeth Hospital] and the polyclinics system since the charity was established nine years ago,” Hope said.

She said the funds were raised through direct contributions from its members through a variety of fundraising efforts.

Hope said with this partnership having come to an end, the charity would now turn its attention to the area of mental health.

“The next area of real need the charity will be hoping to respond too is for mental health treatment for our youth and the elderly. We can acknowledge that ongoing investment in the national health system not only saves lives, but has a meaningful impact on the economic development of small states such as Barbados,” Hope pointed out.

“However, it is also recognized that successive Government administrations have been challenged to make the sustained contributions necessary to ensure that our public healthcare system achieves world class status.”

The president also pointed out that BIBA’s efforts also helped to reduce the strain placed on the island’s major health institution, the QEH.

“In this instance, we are happy to have been able to support the effort to shift some of the burden from the hospital by making the polyclinics better equipped for outpatient care and responding to non-life-threatening illnesses,” she noted.

BIBA’s donations were lauded by Prime Minister Mia Mottley who maintained that contributions from charitable organizations were necessary and critical.

“The level of investment that has hitherto gone into areas of our social services have simply not been there over the last decade. Truth be told, were it not for a number of major charitable organizations such as the Maria Holder Memorial Trust, the Barbados Children’s Trust, the Sandy Lane Trust and others, we would be facing a far more difficult, complex, social situation and our social cohesion would literally be falling,” Mottley said. (RB)