By Caribbean Medical News Staff
Jamaica’s Minister of National Security, Peter Bunting has said that Ebola must be treated as a national security threat and to this end Jamaica has closed its borders to anyone traveling from West Africa.
Bunting made his remarks at the XI Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas in Peru this month.
“Many of our countries have been ravaged by the chikungunya virus… and with the recent diagnosis in the United States, the threat of an even more deadly disease, the Ebola virus, is now on our doorsteps. The devastation caused by the Ebola virus in countries across the African continent is clear evidence that we must not take these threats lightly. We must act cooperatively, if we are to prevent the spread of Ebola… and other diseases throughout our region,” said Bunting.
The Ministry of Health alongside the National Emergency and Operation Centre, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) ramped up their surveillance with the onset of chikungunya and there will be no let-up with “Ebola on our doorstep”.
Jamaica will also be working with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
“While we have improved the skills and capabilities of our officers to respond to such emergencies over the past years, the complex nature of today’s emergencies has placed an even greater strain on our Defense Force to effectively carry out the duties assigned… we look forward to greater cooperation and collaboration with countries of the region through training and sharing of best practices that will enable us to build capacity in this critical area,” he said.
The Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA) provides a platform for debate and deliberation on matters of security and defense, civil-military relations, peace and security, organized crime, transactional crime and terrorism among other issues.
