Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
May 07, 2017 News
Guyana’s health sector, like so many across the globe, has long been fighting a valiant battle against mosquito-borne diseases. Although many gains have been made, sustaining these are still an uphill task that requires not only ample amounts of funds but strategic collaboration, including the support of members of the public.
Focus in this regard will be especially emphasized this week as Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week is observed. This year the fight against the Aedes Aegypti mosquito is being highlighted.
Aedes Aegypti is well known as the mosquito that transmits the yellow fever mosquito and is also known to spread other diseases including dengue fever and the Chikungunya and Zika viruses, among others.
Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week will be observed May 8th through 12th this year and will give keen attention to the fact that community involvement is essential to successfully combat the Aedes Aegypti-type mosquito.
“Community participation is critical to the success of any programme designed to eliminate breeding sites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Efforts are doomed to failure if even one household is negligent.” This is according to Dr. C James Hospedales, Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency [CARPHA], as he commented on the importance of Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week.
In his assessment of the mosquito prevention efforts in the Region thus far, Dr. Hospedales noted that strategies for the control of the mosquito, which causes Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika are failing, and stated that what is needed is an “all hands on board approach.”
Dr. Karen Polson Edwards, CARPHA Assistant Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention Control, supports this “all hands on board approach perspective” as she said, “mosquitoes are social creatures and we are their preferred host. Their breeding sites are mostly man-made water containers. This being the case, we all have the power to eliminate them by destroying their breeding sites. The message of taking 10 minutes a week to check surroundings for and destroying any breeding sites is always relevant, and should become part of our routine.”
For Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week 2017, strengthening household and community participation are key. Everyone feels the effects of mosquito-borne illnesses. It affects our economy and has the potential to negatively affect the tourism sector, the major revenue earner for many Caribbean islands. It also contributes to loss of productivity, ill health and death. The possibility of babies being born with microcephaly and men, in particular, contracting Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), as a result of being bitten by an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito, are also of concern.
The purpose of Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week, which is in its second year, is to bring greater awareness to the mosquito vector, through education and social engagement in CARPHA member states. It is hoped that greater awareness and engagement would bring about behavioural change leading to the elimination of the Aedes aegypti mosquito and greater personal protection, especially as the rainy season approaches.
Everyone has a part to play in the elimination of breeding sites and taking the necessary steps to ensure that he or she is not bitten. As such CARPHA has issued a checklist that persons should adhere to including: Avoid mosquito bites; Destroy mosquito-breeding sites by securely covering domestic water storage containers such as barrels, drums and buckets; Properly discarding tyres and containers that collect water and Covering and sealing tanks, soak-aways and cisterns.
Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week is observed annually during the second week of May. Its theme is ‘Small bite, big threat: fight the bite, destroy mosquito breeding sites.’
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