Caribzone News Highlights

Jamaica

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has acquired an additional 60 vehicles for the National Vector Control Management Programme, at a cost of approximately $400 million, to assist in further controlling mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue.

Ten of the vehicles are already out in the field.

Documents for the other 50 vehicles were handed over to the Directors of the four Regional Health Authorities, on January 27, at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St. Andrew.

Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, who witnessed the handover, said the Government is making a deliberate and concerted effort to invest in areas such as health, security, education, and infrastructure.

“We want the country to understand that the Government is being very responsible and very fair in spreading whatever additional resources we may have…. We are at this point because there was a period of 10 years of sacrifice to return the country to fiscal stability,” he noted.

He said that while the country is not entirely “over the hump”, progress is being made incrementally.

“I believe that this will be the decade where Jamaica finally rises out of its slumber, and this will be the decade of growth and well-being for our people,” the Prime Minister added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Holness said the acquisition of the vehicles will assist in reducing the threat of mosquito-borne illnesses such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya.

“There are many vectors that carry and spread diseases and this will certainly help,” he said.

For his part, Minister of Health and Wellness, Christopher Tufton, said the new fleet was acquired over the last three months, adding that the vehicles have been equipped with mounted foggers.

“The vehicle-mounted foggers are a lot more efficient; you can do a lot more communities and, by extension, you can cover a much wider area. I’m going to put all mature mosquitoes on notice – we are coming for you dead, not alive,” he said.

Dr. Tufton said the vehicles, coupled with 1,000 vector-control workers will assist in further controlling the population of mosquitoes in the island.

He noted that the new fleet offers greater safety for workers, as they can operate the vehicles without being at the back, courtesy of the twin-cab feature.

Dr. Tufton emphasized that the vehicles are to be used solely for vector-management purposes.

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Regional

The Governments of Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, have moved to put screening mechanisms in place in an effort to spot travelers who may be experiencing “signs and symptoms” of the coronavirus at ports of entry, in the various island states.

Guyana's Ministry of Public Health’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle says the country’s port health officials have been alerted and sensitized how to spot “signs and symptoms” of the coronavirus that has killed some 300 persons, so far, and sickened thousands more in mainland China.

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Jamaica

The Maxfield Park Children’s Home in Kingston was, officially presented with a $2.8-million state-of-the-art fire alarm system by the Supreme Ventures Foundation on Wednesday, January 29.

The facility, which has been installed at the institution, is expected to greatly assist in safeguarding the lives of the wards and staff.

The system, its installation, training in its use for personnel at the home, form part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and the Foundation last year, to heighten fire safety in children’s homes.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, who spoke during the presentation ceremony at the home, welcomed the provision while emphasizing the importance of the Foundation’s overall gesture.

“We are speaking about hundreds of children in State care whose lives will be protected, who can sleep more soundly and safely knowing that in the event of a fire they would have been trained and staff members would have been trained,” he said.

Mr. Terrelonge encouraged more corporate companies to forge partnerships with the Government to assist in heightening the safety of children and the country, in general.

Director of Supreme Ventures Foundation, Heather Goldson, said more than $30 million is being invested in the project, which will see some 30 State homes island-wide receiving fully upgraded fire alarm systems, training from the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) and, in some instances, perimeter fencing by February 2021.

Ms. Goldson noted that, to date, 12 homes have benefited from the investment to the tune of more than $15 million.

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