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Clinics & Hospitals Although medical care is somewhat limited on the island at the moment, two of the best medical centers in Central America are located in Honduras. One is the Honduras Medical Center in Tegucigalpa and the other is CEMESA in San Pedro Sula. Roatan On Roatan, there are several private clinics as well as a public hospital located in Coxen Hole. The public hospital is rudimentory and is the beneficiary of Medicines for Roatan, a non-profit organization founded by Nora El Goulli, a British resident, that helps third-world countries set-up well-organised pharmacies and provide them with some generic medications that are often in short supply at the hospital. There are excellent doctors on the island and they are listed in this book. Several have been trained in the US. Visits to doctors cost about $12, and there is often no fee for the follow-up visit! X-rays can be done both at Woods Clinic in Coxen Hole and at Anthony’s Key in Sandy Bay, which also has a decompression chamber. The X-rays are adequate but for specialized services, you will need to go to the mainland in San Pedro Sula. Peggy Stranges, RN is the Director of the Clinica Esperanza and the new Miss Peggy's Hospital recently opened. It is staffed by a local physician as well as foreign volunteer physicians and nurses. The clinic was formerly located in Sandy Bay at Sonrise. Peggy’s very successful fundraising efforts have culminated in the construction of the new hospital located across the road in the vicinity of the old clinic. There is a new hospital being built in Dixon Cove but it will take some time before it is completed. The Little Friends Foundation, headed by Kandy Hyde an islander lady, has set-up two new clinics: one in Shanty Town and one in French Harbour. Both locations are on the eastern part of the island. It is not always possible to find medication that is used in North America or Europe so you may want to stock on your medications prior to arriving in Honduras. Natural and alternative therapy remedies can be obtained ordered online on this site. Not all the chiropractors who advertise their services are fully certified, but there are some excellent, fully-trained chiropractors from the U.S. who are semi-retired but still see patients. Please see the Chiropractors Category. There is also an excellent Physiotherapy clinic (see the Physiotherapy category for the phone number). There are excellent, inexpensive dentists on Roatan, but not all of them speak English. Some of them do emergency calls. Please ee the Emergency Medical Services for more details. There are a few trained and certfied massage therapists on the island of Roatan, but the women who offer you massages on the beach are not among them. Please see the Massage Category for phone numbers. Most of the tropical diseases are parasite-based. There are cases of moskito-transmittes malaria, that can be treated relatively more easily than the malaria found in Africa. However, it is a very unpleasant experience and if you have a weak immune system, you should take precautions and preventive medication. There are many foreign people living on the island and they never take preventive medication, but a few of them have been sick. There are also occurences of dengue fever that is also transmitted by moskitoes. Dr Cherrington says that the first time dengue fever is contracted, it is rarely the serious version of the hemorragic type, but it is serious nonetheless. Digestive problems can happen and are the most common. You should not drink tap water. Only drink the bottled filtered water. Also be weary of what you are eating. Mayonnaise does not keep well in the heat and some restaurants do not have generators so food can spoil during power outages. Some people have bad reactions to the sand flea bites. Try not to scratch to avoid infection. Apply some essential oils such as Linda Kay's Bodyguard or some Cactus Juice to prevent bites, and wear pants at dusk and on rainy days. Mosquitoes love legs and ankles! Remember that the tropics can be hard on people with weak immune systems. If you have a dog or a cat, you need to do weekly preventive treatments to prevent them from contracting tropical diseases. Dogs can easily catch parasites just from brushing off stray dogs that are prevalents on the streets. Walking Fido becomes a challenge when living on Roatan and it is not a good idea to allow your favorite pet to roam freely because of diseases and theft. The weekly treatment consists of the application of a special solution to kill fleas, ticks and parasites that your favorite vet can provide. It is followed by a bath which is much needed weekly because of dust and mud. This is completed by a monthly application of Advantage or FrontLine to keep fleas and ticks at bay. Fleas are ever present and ticks come in waves during the year. You find them mostly in bushes but they occasionally invade houses. Of course, vaccines have to be given on their regular schedules and worm pills are also very important. |
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