Mosquito Control March in Lucea August 16

The Hanover Health Department will be staging two marches in Lucea on Friday (August 16), as the parish intensifies its mosquito control activities and public education campaign.

The initiative has been called ‘National Call to Action Day’, a venture by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, as part of its Enhanced Vector Control Programme.

Similar public education activities will be conducted across parish capitals island-wide.

Acting Regional Health Promotion/Education Officer for the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), Dwight Hill, told JIS News that the marches in Lucea will commence at 10:00 a.m., starting at opposite sides of the town and culminating in the town centre.

“We will start from the end at Rusea’s High into the town, then from ‘Keep Left’ entering Lucea coming from Montego Bay. Everybody will then congregate in the town. From there, we will have a booth set up where persons can come and view the fogging machine, what larvae look like in water and get information,” he explained.

Mr. Hill noted that the initiative aims to “create greater awareness surrounding dengue and vector control and reinforce how important it is to search and destroy mosquito breeding sites, in order to prevent mosquito giving us diseases.”

He said that vector control officers, as well as other public health workers, will conduct public education sessions with residents throughout the day.

In addition, he noted that at least 20 business establishments in the town centre will be targeted by vector control officers, who will disseminate useful information regarding vector control to the management and staff.

“The vector control officers will engage the workers and the management to search and destroy mosquito breeding sites in and around their workplace,” Mr. Hill said.