C.M.W. Maó
A number of British residents linked to local associations and clubs were the invited guests at the Rotary Club lunch last Tuesday. These included Sandra Bradley (Ladies' Probus Club), Arthur Quayle (President Probus Club), Shirley Smith (Ladies' Luncheon Club), Alan Bailey (President Age Concern), Chris Collman (Menorca Charity Players), Colin Corke (Masonic Lodge) plus the Honorary Consul Deborah Hellyer and the Anglican Chaplain, the Reverend Michael Bunce.
Deborah Hellyer spoke on behalf of the group, thanking the Rotary Club for the invitation, and explaining why the British tended to group together when they first arrived on the island, gravitating towards people of the same nationality and speaking the same language in search of friendship, before starting to integrate with the local population.
Another invited guest was Doctor Marola Pérez Catchot, the head of the Primary Health Care Service in Menorca who explained the workings of the island's medical centres and their role not only in treating patients but in providing preventive medicine. The 146 people who work in Primary Health Care on the island include 43 doctors, 48 nurses, 4 midwives, around 30 people in administrative positions plus others who are non-medical and non-administrative. These are employed in the five medical centres and two local surgeries (in Sant Climent and Cala en Porter) which cover the island population of 76,000. Dr. Pérez spoke of the high level of confidence which patients have in their G.P.'s who, according to studies, are capable of resolving more than 90% of cases, the remainder being referred to specialists. She also described various problems, such as the difficulty in getting an appointment with a G.P. or the short period of time allotted to patients for these visits, which the service is trying to resolve and of future challenges the system will have to face in the future, such as an ever-ageing population.
The Rotary Club's LifeStraw campaign is gaining momentum with a recent donation of 35,000 euros from a Valencian solar panel manufacturer, Krannich Solar. This sum will enable the Club to send 10,000 units to African sub-Sahara before the end of the year and takes the LifeStraw fund to over 70,000 euros.