An ordinary meeting of the Society was held on 4th February 2016.
The Vice-President, Dr Margaret Keightley, was in the chair. Due to the scheduled speaker being unwell Dr Margaret Keightley agreed to give a talk on her medical visit to Peru with the Vine Trust.
The Vine Trust aims to provide medical care to the remote tribes of the Amazon basin. They Trust has two medical ships, The Amazon Hope, and Amazon Hope2 on which Margaret sailed. These ships are designed to cope with the shallow waters of the tributaries of the Amazon. They are equipped with operating theatre, dental surgery, a pharmacy and treatment rooms. The medical and dental care is free, but the medication has to be paid for unless the illness is malaria.
Margaret sailed up the Tigre River in the Loreto Province of Peru. Loreto is 60% rainforest and 95% of Amazonians live there. There are 0.03 doctors per 1000 of population compared to Britain with 2.8. The medical staff lives on board and the ship travels from village to village. They dock by the bank and make land on a wobbly gangplank. The waiting room is on the roof of the ship and is packed. The medical services are below decks.
They will see over 100 patients a day. There is a lot of malaria. They also dealt with anaemia, fevers, dehydration, respiratory illness, intestinal complaints and skin disorders. Dental caries were extremely common.
The staff did have some time off in the afternoon and would often play the village at football. Otherwise, a rest in a hammock was luxury. The talk was illustrated with excellent pictures.
There being no other business the Vice-President closed the meeting at 9.55pm.