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Citizens Urged to Assist in Drive to Control Chikungunya

By: , October 6, 2014

The Key Point:

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, says the citizens should assist in the campaign to control the Chikungunya disease, as it is impacting schools, homes, places of work, production and productivity.
Citizens Urged  to Assist in Drive to Control Chikungunya
Photo: JIS
Students of the Williamsfield All Age School in Westmoreland, performing a poem on the Chikungunya disease, during the official opening and handing over of the upgraded Williamsfield Health Centre in Westmoreland, on October 3.

The Facts

  • Addressing the official opening and handover ceremony for the upgraded Williamsfield Health Centre in Westmoreland on October 3, Dr. Ferguson emphasized that the effort to contain and control the disease can only be successful if citizens accept their role in the process.
  • Dr. Ferguson called on all Jamaicans to support the initiative, as the country unite in a worthwhile project to benefit all citizens, especially the most vulnerable - the young, the elderly and those with chronic diseases.

The Full Story

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, says the citizens should assist in the campaign to control the Chikungunya disease, as it is impacting schools, homes, places of work, production and productivity.

Addressing the official opening and handover ceremony for the upgraded Williamsfield Health Centre in Westmoreland on October 3, Dr. Ferguson emphasized that the effort to contain and control the disease can only be successful if citizens accept their role in the process.

“In containing and controlling the disease,  we have to do the necessary work … first of which is to destroy all breeding sites. We must take on personal responsibility in terms of protecting ourselves,” the Minister said.

He urged citizens to take the lead in cleaning up their home surroundings and not to sit by waiting for the Government to visit their homes to do what they should be doing on a consistent basis.

“Containing and controlling the disease cannot be the responsibility of government alone. Citizens must take responsibility for their own protection and also the protection of those in their households. It requires a comprehensive and integrated approach with government, private sector, citizen associations and the churches, because homes, places of work and places of worship are some of the areas where we see the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes,” the Minister noted.

He noted that after consultations, the Ministry of Health would be spearheading a national clean-up day, which would be concentrating on certain areas that are the likely breeding sites of the deadly mosquitoes.

“We have identified funding, and I have had several meetings with the Mayors, parish councils, Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, Education Ministry, Food for the Poor, Private Sector Organization of Jamaica and a host of other crucial groups and organizations, all of whom have committed to help in this onslaught to destroy mosquito breeding sites and to step up on the public education programme,” the Minister informed.

Dr. Ferguson called on all Jamaicans to support the initiative, as the country unite in a worthwhile project to benefit all citizens, especially the most vulnerable – the young, the elderly and those with chronic diseases.

Last Updated: October 6, 2014

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