The Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) on Wednesday (January 29) hosted the first in a series of dengue town hall meetings for St. James at the Granville All-Age School in the parish.
The event was aimed at raising awareness among residents about the dengue virus and the need for them to remain vigilant in destroying breeding sites for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the virus.
Acting Chief Public Health Inspector for St. James, Sherika Lewis, noted that more than 3,800 premises in Ganville have been searched for mosquito breeding sites by vector-control workers since activities began last year.
She noted that of this figure, some 215 premises tested positive for mosquito breeding.
“This has brought the Aedes index, that is the number of positive mosquito breeding sites in your community, to five per cent, and that is an excellent number,” she said.
She noted that, overall, the parish index is at five per cent and continues to trend downward.
Ms. Lewis credited the success to the vigilance of residents and collaboration between the health department and agencies, such as the St. James Municipal Corporation, National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and National Works Agency (NWA).
She said that the parish has received valuable support from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, which provided thehealth department with five new vector-control vehicles in one month.
“We also have seen an increase in the number of vector-control workers going out into your communities. As early as [Tuesday night]into [Wednesday]morning, we have been in your community conducting fogging activities,” she noted.
For his part, Regional Vector Control Officer, Ryan Morris, said that 90 additional temporary workers have been engaged to join a team of 12 permanent staff in mosquito search and destroy as well as fogging exercises.
“So Granville can only see further success following this meeting,” he noted.
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