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Ministry of Health

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Imbert: $8m to fight dengue Express – August 1^st, 2002

By SATEESH MAHARAJ

HEALTH Minister Colm Imbert has blamed a very rainy wet season, a lacking insect vector control division, and the introduction of the new Type III strain for the current dengue problem.

Speaking to reporters yesterday at the Ministry of Health, Independence Square, as he briefed the media on the National Consultation on the Health Sector while will be held at Trinidad Hilton on Monday and Tuesday, Imbert pledged between $7 million and $8 million to upgrade the insect vector control division.

While Imbert would not describe the dengue situation as an epidemic, he said: “We have recognised that there is a problem. There is a significant increase in the number of reported dengue cases.”

Imbert said one of the reasons for this was that the Type III strain of dengue has been introduced into the country. He said if a person was bitten by a mosquito carrying the Type III strain they would most likely succumb to the illness.

He said: “It would take two to three years for the population to build up resistance to Type III. For the next two or three years we are going to intensify our assault on this problem.”

Imbert blamed an unusual rainfall pattern as a contributing factor to the advent of the disease.

He said: “We have had an unusual rainfall pattern this year. The rainfall for June is about 15 to 20 per cent higher this year than it was in 2001 and 2000.”

Adding to this frustration was a lacking Insect vector division.

The minister said: “The insect vector division is not in good shape. It is depleted in terms of manpower, equipment and vehicles. We have to bring that up to strength and also expand the capability of the division beyond a normal situation.”

He added: “We need to get more ULV (ultra low volume) foggers into Trinidad. We only have two or three in good working condition. We need at least eight to nine. We need to buy some more hand held dyna-foggers. We are going to buy at least 50 of those. We want to buy at least 500 additional spray cans. We want to increase staff by about 100.”

The Pan American Health Organisation has been requested to bring this equipment into the country via air freight. It should arrive, according to Imbert, in a few weeks. Recently purchased vehicles should arrive within four months.

Imbert said there was a view that the mosquitoes were building up a resistance to the chemicals used to destroy them.

“We will be asking the World Health Organisation to help us. If we have that problem then we will have to switch chemicals and get recommendations from the WHO on what we should switch to.”

Imbert called on the public to do their part in preventing the spread of mosquitoes.

He said there were numerous people turning up with dengue-like symptoms at hospitals. Imbert said one in ten of these were actual cases, but that panic was leading to overcrowded hospitals.

He said there were ten suspected dengue-related deaths but this could not be confirmed.

The Ministry of Health, meanwhile, is inviting the public to come and express their views on the quality of the health care system at next week’s national consultation.

Members of the public who want to ensure a place at the consultation are asked to call 623-0615 to confirm their attendance.

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