Director of Vector Control Services (VCS) Dr. Reyaud Rahman, has defended his department’s res-ponse to the Chikungunya scourge.
GINA said that he was responding on Monday to criticisms in that day’s Stabroek News editorial over the government’s response to the mosquito-borne virus which has seen thousands of suspected cases in various parts of the country.
Dr. Rahman denied that the Ministry of Health was late in responding and that the public information campaign was poor. He argued that the Ministry had stepped up its vector control activities before the first case of the virus was detected in the Caribbean in December 2013.
He said that much effort was made to educate the public on the disease and fogging had commenced in the City.
According to GINA, he further said that when the symptoms started showing in parts of Berbice as the first cases surfaced in Guyana, “within a day VCS teams were dispatched to Region Six. These activities were spearheaded by Dr. Rahman himself.”
He added that personnel from the country’s 10 administrative regions were trained in the functioning and correct usage of fogging machines along with troubleshooting. The Ministry, he said, also undertook training of individuals working with chemicals during fogging exercises.
He added that the Ministry worked closely with the Neigh-bourhood Democratic Councils (NDC) and the Regional Executive Officers (REO) to help to prevent the disease from spreading.
“Several fogging exercises were also carried out in various parts of the country with emphasis being placed on the city. The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development joined hands with the Health Ministry and provided necessary equipment to ensure that these activities were successful”, he said.
Critics have said that the fogging programme was poor and was not sustained and this led to escalating infections along the coast.
Dr. Rahman said that the statements made in the editorial about the VCS not cleaning the drains as part of their efforts, “were made with very little research because the mosquito that carries the disease is very domesticated and breeds in clean environments such as rain water in containers, and barrels in households. It however, is very rarely found in unclean environments such as drains.”
GINA said that he contended that 90% of vector control lies with the public, and it is the responsibility of residents to ensure their surroundings are clean and containers that may hold water and breed vectors are properly disposed of.
“VCS can only assist or complement the work of the residents by fogging and spraying however, if individuals do not keep their surroundings clean, then there will always be breeding room for vectors”, he stated, according to GINA.
He said that approximately 15,000 posters were developed and dispatched to schools while there were several educational programmes and TV programmes.
Dr. Rahman asserted “that the Ministry’s activities were well coordinated, and they were on the ball before the disease made its way to Guyana”.
