But, regardless, the world will soon know Belize as having Zika. Undaunted, UNICEF is taking on the disease. Today in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of local Government and the Mayor's Association, UNICEF held the start of a two day training workshop for communication directors and town and city councilors in all 9 municipalities. The training was geared towards sensitizing municipal authorities in how to develop evidence-based and community-based vector control interventions. The workshop placed a particular emphasis on Zika. Today we spoke to the UNICEF representative where we learned about the communication strategies they are trying to promote and why it is that UNICEF has now joined the Zika fight.
Denise Robateau, Education Officer - UNICEF
"UNICEF has an initiative with the Ministry of Local Government on sustainable child friendly municipalities. The municipalities as you know, have been looking at strategic plans for making their community safe for children. In light of that initiative, the municipalities have started a lot of the clean-up campaigns. They have started advocacy. So our purpose here today is to help, and is to give the ideas in terms of communication for development. So we have with us from the region, a communication for development specialist and he has been sharing a lot of the different ideas so as to reach to community at a local level."
Sani Massimiliano, Comm. for Dev. Specialist - UNICEF
"So what we're going to do with the municipalities today is to really use two participatory approach, really develop concrete plans to engage with the communities and make sure that they take action on preventing behaviors that are important to eliminate potential breeding sites of mosquitos."
Emanuel Pech
"Why does UNICEF have an interest in the fight against Zika?"
Sani Massimiliano, Comm. for Dev. Specialist - UNICEF
"Well basically Zika has been declared as a measure of public concern by the WHO on the 1st of February because of the causes that Zika is having on microcephaly or basically new born that have been detected in Brazil getting born with microcephaly. It is a very severe disability and it is something that has moved the median all over the world quite emotionally. So the Zika virus itself has quite mild symptoms for an adult for example, but if pregnant women are affected by Zika and they deliver a baby with microcephaly, which is really a huge problem."
Denise Robateau, Education Officer - UNICEF
"As I said before, in the region, and all around us, there are cases confirmed. Belize has to take this seriously."
Tomorrow the workshop continues where the participants will go to the communities for field research and to formulate a work plan, which will then be implemented in their respective municipalities.
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