Health Forum in Black River September 18

Residents in and around the town of Black River, in St. Elizabeth, will be updated on many health issues, including Chikungunya, at a public forum on Thursday, September 18.

The forum will be held at the St. Elizabeth Parish Library, in Black River, commencing at 4:30 p.m., and is part of a series of Town Hall meetings that the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), has been conducting to facilitate dialogue between health care providers and the communities that they serve.

“Our Regional Technical Director, Dr. Michael Coombs, will lead the presentations, looking at issues impacting health, in particular, Chikungunya, Dengue Fever, and Malaria,” said Chairman of SRHA, Michael Stewart, in an interview with JIS News.

“We are having a lot of rainfall, so we need to sensitize the citizens about these things (waterborne diseases). We will be having other technical persons and medical personnel joining in the presentations, and we invite all the citizens,” he added.

Mr. Stewart also noted that the forum will look at Ebola, because the region is a tourist destination, and “we have visitors coming in from all over the world, so we have to ensure that the citizens are apprised of what this Ebola is all about, although it is more endemic to West Africa.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman is encouraging persons to clean their surroundings and to get rid of old tyres and drums, “to ensure that they don’t provide breeding sites for mosquitoes.”

Chikungunya is transmitted by the bite of the Aedes mosquito, which also transmits Dengue fever. It has a three to seven-day incubation period and can cause acute, sub-acute and chronic illness.