Wellness

The MV Hondius, an expedition cruise vessel that promised adventure among glaciers, seabirds and remote islands, has become the centre of an international public health investigation after a suspected outbreak of hantavirus left multiple passengers critically ill and at least three dead. A cruise has become a floating epidemiology lecture. …

After the disgusting attack on Port of Spain South constituency executive alderman Wayne Griffith (we are all wishing for his speedy recovery), many are outraged by the level of raw aggression and barbarism displayed by those Tranquillity (the irony of the name is not lost on any of us) Secondary …

I was a fair way into my column when the call came. It was from one of the sharpest, most beautiful minds I know. He is not even forty, but he has accumulated wisdom far beyond his years—partly because he has lived a life that has been buffeted from all …

There is a quiet daily miracle. Not the kind that makes headlines. Not the kind that is measured in numbers, charts or statistics. The kind that lives in kitchens before sunrise, in whispered prayers at bedside, in sacrifices that are never announced, only felt. We call it motherhood. And if …

I first noticed the candlestick tree at the back of Garden with Wings in the Royal Botanic Gardens. It was one of those trees that seem to be quietly at work without asking to be explained. Its flowers and fruit hang directly from the trunk and branches: long waxy “candles”, …

There is a phrase patients love to hear. And one that doctors are quietly relieved to say. “Your blood tests are normal.” It lands gently. Reassuring. Final. Almost like a verdict in your favour. You’re fine. Sometimes, you’re not. Because “normal” is one of the most comforting words in medicine. …

I have a question—a few actually. They are related to the policies at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, commonly known as Mt Hope hospital. I was genuinely perplexed at the procedures regarding patients who had been admitted through the Accident and Emergency portal. People complain about the waiting period …

It has been one of those weeks. The kind that leaves a residue. Murders that shock, then settle uneasily into the background. A parliamentary inquiry that veers, unexpectedly, into something resembling theatre complete with shameless “track changes”—as if oversight itself required editing. And now, the reports from Cumuto. Each story …

There is something quietly disarming about watching a child see a giraffe in the zoo for the first time. The pause. The widening of the eyes. The small hand tightening around yours, as though this impossibly tall, gentle creature might suddenly look back. In that moment, something happens that medicine …

Yes, I personally hate the term “first world” but it drives the point home emphatically in this instance. Trinidad and Tobago has always had a pattern of importing first world style without having the first world substance to back it up. We pave over mangroves and build skyscrapers without proper …

A recent comment from a visiting sailor has stayed with me in a way that is both embarrassing and deeply concerning. He shared that as he approached Trinidad by sea, he did not need a map to know where he was. The number of plastic bottles floating in our waters …

We trust Google more than doctors. And it is costing us. We are living in the most medically advanced time in human history. Unfortunately, trust in medicine has never felt more fragile. It has worsened since Covid. We can map the human genome. We can replace failing organs. We can …