It's an ambitious five year program but by the time it is over
the health of these children will be significantly improved in the rural communities
of the Stann Creek and Toledo Districts. The project will affect fifty four
communities where a concentrated effort will be made to sustainable reduce the
transmission of diseases affecting the region. The campaign is a joint effort
by the Pan American Health Organization, the Ministry of Health, non governmental
organizations, and international donors. Today the children were issued free
vitamin a as part of the projects overall medical care. According to San Antonio's
polyclinic administrator Eva Middleton, the children have been suffering from
a number of ailments primarily due to poor sanitary conditions.
Eva Middleton, Administrator - San Antonio,PCP
"These are scabies, quite a lot, sores, open sores and wounds. We
have a lot of lice and so we do school lice-ing program and the other major
thing is just worms, parasites you know our children show quite a lot of that
and even the mothers who are expecting are having those problems."
Tony Olson, CEO - SPINS
"One of the things that I have noticed in going to the different villages
at varying levels of understanding of these issues that some of the villages
that we go to we see a lot of farm animals, animals running around, a lot of
feces on the ground and children not wearing shoes and they are stepping in
those feces and those worms start to infiltrate their bodies."
Jose Coye, Minster of Health
"The preventative measure we are taking here today through the de-worming
and the vitamin A for our children will certainly go a far way in developing
their cognitive skills. But of course it will involve the sanitation to prevent
the waterborne disease. Of course it will also have to do with healthy foods
so of many things that will bring about the results in terms of a healthy population.
But of course it will involve the sanitation to prevent the waterborne disease.
Of course it will also have to do with healthy foods so of many things that
will bring about the results in terms of a healthy population."
We'll have more on the new program in Monday's newscast.
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