While down in Placencia, we also spoke to the Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). He's in Belize to make a presentation to the CARICOM membership on the Zika disease and the serious health threat it poses to CARICOM.
He discussed the role that CARPHA plays in the region's fight to manage a potential epidemic to this disease:
Dr. C. James Hospedales, Executive Director - CARPHA
"This is a mosquito borne virus which aedes aegypti mosquito transmits the same zika, chikungunya and dengue. So from the time last year we realize that this was potential risk to the region. The first thing you do is to step up the monitoring mechanisms that you have try to detect it early if it comes in different countries. Getting out a lot of public information and education, to stop mosquito breeding and stop mosquito biting especially if you are pregnant, especially if older folks with lots of chronic health problems - you don't want to get one of these viral diseases. Scaling up the laboratory testing available to member's states. Coordinating the response. A lot of different agencies are wanting to work with us in the Caribbean. So that's part of our role."
Reporter
"In other parts of the region there have been cases of Zika. In terms of within the Caribbean itself, what has the response to that or the detection been like?"
Dr. C. James Hospedales, Executive Director - CARPHA
"We have five CARICOM countries where Zika has been detected and a number of other Caribbean countries, non-CARICOM, including Puerto Rico and St. Maarten. I think I've seen all the member states in the region really intensify their public information, their vector control and trying to get ahead of the curve where this is concerned. Suriname, which was the earliest country to be affected, I know from working with them that they are very, very active in trying to educate and deal with the vector and reduce the risk to their population. So the detection triggers a number of other responses in the plan."
Dr. Kenrick Leslie, the Executive Director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center, and his team is expect to make a presentation to the CARICOM heads tomorrow. But, this year, climate change is taking a secondary priority for this year's meeting due to the real threat that de-risking presents the banking sectors all across the Caribbean.
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