St. Ann youths get public health training

OCHO RIOS — Some 22 youth workers in St. Ann are participating in a training course that should see them gaining certification in the field of Community and Environmental Health.

This was disclosed by Acting Chief Public Health Inspector in the St. Ann Health Department, Leroy Scott, at the sitting of the St. Ann Parish Council on Thursday (May 12).

“We are now in the second of eight weeks of the training period (in) which, at the end, the trainees will be assigned to communities to undertake special programmes in community and environmental health,” Mr. Scott said.

He said that the training, being held at the Lifeline Church Hall, St. Ann’s Bay, was an initiative of the Ministry of Health and is being held in collaboration with the National Youth Service (NYS).

Of the 22 trainees, 17 are concentrating on Community Health, while the remaining five are concentrating on Environmental Health.

“That is the cadre for the moment, but we are expecting that, at the end of the training, these persons will either matriculate eventually into the public health training institutions or, in the case of the community health trainees, they will move into the field of nursing,” Mr. Scott said.

He also stated that the trainees would be placed in communities for a maximum of two years, following which they can pursue studies in any field they desire.

“We hope to have a continuation of this training programme, so once this particular one is successful we will move on to conducting others of such nature,” he said.

By ALDEEN CAMPBELL