7 News Belize

How To Fight Disease On The Frontline
posted (February 27, 2013)
Today in Belmopan, training was held for the first responders to disease outbreak. The idea is to make them better at detecting and preventing high priority public health problems. Participants include Medical Officers of the Ministry of Health and from the Belize Defence Force, Public Health Inspectors, Public Health Nurses and Laboratory Technicians.

Englebert Emmanuel explained this essence of epedimiology:

Englebert Emmanuel - Surveilance Officer, Ministry of Health
"What the training will do is to equip our public health and military people to understand disease patterns, and to identify sources of transmission, in terms of eliminating public health threats through health education, and through public health intervention, which would then reduce the incidents of disease."

Captain Russel Manzanero - Physician, BDF
"It is very important, I believe has been mentioned before, that the surgeons, having soldiers who are always exposed to the elements, and always being out in the fields. They always expose themselves to certain illnesses and diseases. They come in contact with the entire communities. I would say that soldiers are always involved some sort of communication, or in contact with someone, and diseases are always there. So, of course, having this important epedemiology training would help us equip and find out how to manage and prevent certain illnesses within the force."

The program is administered by the Centers for Disease Control in the USA.


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