and as a result

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The Guyana Medical Relief (GMR) Inc., a non-profit charitable organization established since 1984, with the aim of providing needed medical supplies and equipment to health care providers has once again done so with the establishment of a Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) building for the testing of females to ascertain whether or not they have cervical cancer.The 20×25 ft. concrete building, which reportedly cost $5M, was erected within the compound of the Oscar Joseph District Hospital in Charity. The building has a waiting area, two rooms, a sink, and a toilet facility.Kaieteur News understands that the hospital has been doing VIA Testing of sexually active females for some time now, but staffers had been doing so in very cramped conditions.The GMR Inc., with a track record of over twenty-five years of charitable activities for medical institutions in Guyana and some $50M in donations of medicines and equipment to date, saw the need for separate accommodation, and at the request of the VIA Doctor of  the Hospital, Dr. Afrah Khan, undertook the project which started in late July.Chief Operations Officer (COO) of GMR, Mr. Sharir Chan, handed over the keys of the building to the Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Parmanand Persaud, who in turn handed it over Dr Khan. The building was handed over free of cost to the Administration with the aim of enhancing medical services there.Dr. Khan noted that cervical cancer is a leading cause of death among sexually active women up to the age of fifty, and as a result, she and the staff were happy to get better accommodation for testing women and giving them the treatment which can save their lives.“The key point in this clinic is to have a single visit approach; meaning that women  come one day and they get everything done, because we don’t want to say you are positive , you will have to come back later,. We want to treat them right away, because sometimes we send them away and they never come back…..we lose them.”According to COO Chan, this is the third VIA Clinic building being built in the country with funding from GMR. The first was erected in the Mahaicony Hospital compound and the other in the Bartica Hospital compound last year.“…but this one here at Charity is our best by far, in terms of construction, since we have learnt from the two previously built.”Chan also disclosed that more help from the GMR Inc, for the hospital, is imminent.“We have a container of medication and equipment which has arrived in the country and is destined for Suddie Hospital. Charity will get from that shipment and so will the hospital in Moruca in Region 1.”Regional Chairman Persaud said that the Regional administration will work towards getting furniture and electricity for the facility before the end of the year. He joined with others present in expressing gratitude to the hospital, the Regional Democratic Council and the people of Charity and its environs, for the charitable donation.