Health Ministry Mobilises Additional Workforce for Islandwide Vector-Control Response

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has engaged 413 temporary workers to strengthen its vector-control interventions, in anticipation of increased vector-related activity islandwide in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

Speaking during a special press briefing on Hurricane Melissa recovery at Jamaica House in Kingston on Thursday (November 6), Portfolio Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, said the temporary staff will be working in tandem with the Ministry’s permanent personnel.

“We do anticipate an increase in vector-related activity, whether it is rodents or mosquitoes. Those 413 temporary workers are engaged, and we are going to be supporting those temporary workers with 498 permanent staff. You will see and feel and hear more of them in the communities in the coming days, because we do expect over the next week or so, particularly in the areas where we have no electricity, that is going to be an issue,” he outlined.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tufton noted that there is always the risk of dengue fever, which is caused by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

“Just to note, that is only one of several species. So we are monitoring and testing to determine exactly what the species are and how we deal with them,” he stated.

Dr. Tufton further advised that public health inspectors have been mobilised and are “in the field looking at the food chain”.

“We have already condemned a fair bit of food that is to be refrigerated and cannot be refrigerated… and [we are] doing water testing. All of that, in aid of preventing infections or diseases from food or water,” the Minister affirmed.