#Kingston, February 12, 2019 – Jamaica – Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, is warning that persons who refuse to destroy mosquito breeding sites on their property could face penalties. He said there is law that allows for fines on individuals or business entities that reject warnings to eradicate such areas on their premises.
“I
believe that the time has come, and we need to enforce the law, because we have
to find all possible ways to create behavioural change as the most effective
weapon to controlling dengue,” Dr. Tufton said at a recent town hall meeting at
the HEART Trust/NTA’s College of Construction Services in Portmore, St.
Catherine.
He was
responding to a complaint from a vector control worker about being prevented
from accessing premises in the parish to carry out mosquito eradication activities.
Dr.
Tufton told the forum that fines have been imposed recently on some persons in St.
Catherine, and enforcement of the law will be stepped up. He said that the objective is to encourage
personal responsibility in creating a healthier environment and reduce the
transmission of vector-borne diseases.
Meanwhile,
Medical Entomologist with the Ministry, Sherine
Huntley-Jones, assured that the chemicals being used for fogging
activities are all certified as safe for public health by the World Health
Organization (WHO).
“All
the chemicals that we use are effective for what we are using them for and the
exposure of an individual in a community that is being fogged is very limited.
As such, there is no expected harm that must be experienced by the persons
exposed to it,” she said.
She,
however, urged persons who have respiratory problems, to cover their nose with a
wet cloth, or stay out of the areas being fogged.
Principal
of the Naggo Head Primary School, Andria Givans, commended the Ministry for providing
the necessary information to parents and students for the control of dengue.
She
appealed to residents of the community not to “shut out” health workers from their
premises.
“They have a job to do and the fogging will make things better for us,” she said.
Release: JIS
Contact: Garfield L. Angus
Photo Caption: Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton (right), addresses a town hall meeting on efforts to reduce the transmission of dengue fever, held recently at the HEART Trust/NTA’s College of Construction Services in Portmore, St. Catherine. In the background are Chief Public Health Inspector for the parish, Greyson Hutchinson (left); and Dr. Phillip Coombs, who is attached to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH).
Photo by Rudranath Fraser