Page 13 - ATA

A14 LOCAL
Friday 12 May 2017

Total Community Involvement Essential to Fighting the Aedes aegypti Mosquito

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD Zika are failing, and stated and greater personal pro-
AND TOBAGO - “Commu- that what is needed is an tection, especially as the
nity participation is critical “all hands onboard ap- rainy season approaches.
to the success of any pro- proach.” Everyone has a part to play
gramme designed to elimi- Dr Karen Polson Edwards, in the elimination of breed-
nate breeding sites of the CARPHA Assistant Direc- ing sites and taking the
Aedes aegypti mosquito. tor of Surveillance, Disease necessary steps to ensure
Efforts are doomed to fail- Prevention Control, sup- that he or she is not bit-
ure if even one household ports this “all hands on- ten. We need to therefore
is negligent.” So said Dr C board approach perspec- avoid mosquito bites, and
James Hospedales, Execu- tive” as she said, “mosqui- destroy mosquito-breeding
tive Director of the Carib- toes are social creatures sites by securely covering
bean Public Health Agen- and we are their preferred domestic water storage
cy (CARPHA), as he com- host. Their breeding sites containers such as barrels,
mented on the importance are mostly man-made wa- drums and buckets; prop-
of Caribbean Mosquito ter containers. This being erly discarding tires and
Awareness Week, which is the case, we all have the containers that collect wa-
being observed from May power to eliminate them For Caribbean Mosquito
8-12. by destroying their breed- Awareness Week 2017,
In his assessment of the ing sites. The message of strengthening household
mosquito prevention ef- taking ten minutes a week and community partici-
forts in the Region thus far, to check surroundings for pation are key. Everyone
Dr Hospedales noted that and destroying any breed- feels the effects of mosqui-
strategies for the control of ing sites is always relevant to-borne illnesses. It affects
the mosquito, which causes and should become part our economy and has the
Dengue, Chikungunya and of our routine.” potential to negatively af-

fect the tourism sector, the
major revenue earner for ter, and covering and seal-
many Caribbean islands. ing tanks, soak-aways and
It also contributes to loss cisterns.
of productivity, ill health Caribbean Mosquito
and death. The possibility Awareness Week is ob-
of babies being born with served annually during
microcephaly and men, the second week of May.
in particular, contracting Its theme is Small bite, big
Guillain-Barré Syndrome threat: fight the bite de-
(GBS), as a result of being stroy mosquito breeding
bitten by an infected Ae- sites.
des aegypti mosquito, are More information is avail-
also of concern. able on Caribbean Mos-
The purpose of Caribbe- quito Awareness Week
an Mosquito Awareness website http://caribbe-
Week, which is in its second anmosquitoweek.carpha.
year, is to bring greater org/q
awareness to the mosquito
vector, through education
and social engagement in
CARPHA member states.
It is hoped that greater
awareness and engage-
ment would bring about
behavioral change lead-
ing to the elimination of the
Aedes aegypti mosquito