Taipei Veterans General Hospital (VGH), in collaboration with the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund on the capacity building Project for the Prevention and Control of Chronic Kidney Disease, recently sent Dr. Chih-Yu Yang and Nr. Yu-Jen Wang from the Division of Nephrology to St. Kitts and Nevis in order to conduct a capacity building workshop for health professionals.

In St. Kitts and Nevis, there is only one nephrologist in the entire country, a foreign physician hired by the Cuban government and serves for three years before being replaced with another. Furthermore, social welfare payments for medical expenses in the country only cover those who are under 16 years old and over 62 years old. This is why the people of St. Kitts and Nevis admire the convenience of the medical care and health insurance in Taiwan.

• Although St. Kitts and Nevis is a small developing country, it has a comfortable climate, fresh air, clean environment, and friendly locals. It can be considered as the Bali island of the Caribbean. The diet of local residents mainly composes of rhizomes and starches and not much of vegetables, due to wild monkeys found on the island from time to time. The monkeys are a headache for the locals because they often destroy crops, making farmers and the local government miserable. The local residents then have to depend on imported vegetables with higher prices. This limits their dietary choices and affects their health as well.
• The “seed teachers” have a responsibility to teach their medical colleagues regarding chronic kidney disease upon their return to their home country. Among them, Nr. Averil from Niger told us: "After coming to Taiwan for training, she knew better how to help the community. Last month, she took care of a 17-year-old with eyelid edema, peripheral edema, high blood pressure, and proteinuria. With her assessment, she successfully assisted the patient for a referral to the hospital for treatment, where the patient’s condition was stabilized, symptoms were relieved, and blood pressure & proteinuria were controlled within normal range. Due to such experiences, Nr. Averil was invited to speak at several lectures.