Money still being allocated to prepare Jamaica for Ebola and Chikungunya

Ebola and Chikungunya may no longer be immediate threats to Jamaica for now, but that has not stopped the new administration from ensuring the country is ready if they raise their heads again.

Government has allocated J$6.8 million (US$55,763) to a project to strengthen the country’s national surveillance systems and establish an institutional coordination mechanism to respond to vector borne diseases as well as prepare for the threat of the Ebola virus.

That is contained in the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled recently by Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw.

The project, titled ‘Institutional Strengthening to Improve National Surveillance, Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases’, aims to develop strategies and implement specific actions to prepare for the potential threat of Ebola and control Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreak.

Along with a National Preparedness Plan and Road Map to be developed under the project this year, there will also be a public education campaign to sensitize the public about the diseases, symptoms and associated risk factors.

Achievements through the initiative up to December 2015 included: the development of a National Integrated Vector Control Plan; the procurement of audiovisual equipment, computer hardware and accessories; the training of 419 health care workers from 20 hospitals in infection prevention and control; and the procurement and distribution of protective gear, equipment and material, including suits and masks, for infection prevention and control and vector control.

Additionally, 30 environmental health officers, community health aides and communications officers were trained in communication for behavioural change interventions.

Forty-five senior Ministry of Health directors were also trained in communication skills and provided with capacity building workshops.

The project is funded through a grant by the Inter-American Development Bank. (Caribbean 360)

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