Prime Minister Perry Christie left Nassau yesterday morning for the United States, where he will undergo a final medical examination before returning to his duties.
Mr. Christie will be visiting the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore Maryland at the advice of his personal physician Dr. Perry Gomez and heart specialist Dr. Conville Brown, who are both accompanying Mr. Christie to Baltimore.
The review of Mr. Christie’s condition, following the slight stroke he suffered last month, is expected to take two days.
Some Bahamian medical professionals expressed dismay over the fact that Mr. Christie was apparently not confident enough in the local medical environment to have his final checkup performed here at home.
Acting Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt told the Tribune newspaper yesterday that Mr. Christie is “very excited about this trip because it means he will be able to finally return to work.”
“The Prime Minister is in very good spirits. He has lost weight and is looking fit and trim and 15 years younger,” she added.
Depending on the results of the final check-up, Mrs. Pratt said the Prime Minister is hoping that, rather than return only part-time, he will be able to fully take on his duties again.
“I’m looking forward to having the prime minister returned to his rightful place,” she said.
Mrs. Pratt said she expects Mr. Christie to be back in office by the time she travels to the Global Summit of Women 2005, which will be held in Mexico on June 21.
At the conference, Mrs. Pratt will represent the Bahamas, one of the last countries in the hemisphere to still maintain a ‘Taliban’ mentality by denying equal rights to women. The Bahamian constitution discriminates against women, relegating them to second-class citizenry and denying them the rights afforded to Bahamian men.
