The first sub-regional workshop for the strengthening of integrated management for dengue prevention and control in Guyana was launched on Tuesday.
At the launch, Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy said from 2007 to date, there have been a consistent increase in the number of cases of dengue and the incidence rate in Guyana. “I believe when we recorded the numbers in 2007 the incidence rate for Guyana was some 46 per 100,000 and the incidence rate at the end of 2010 was about 196 per 100,000. So, there has been a rise… Guyana has improved its testing capacity; therefore we have more confirmed cases today than we have had in the past,” he said.
According to a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA), Ramsammy noted that every citizen should be educated on the vector borne disease and how they can help to prevent it. Fogging and the use of appropriate chemicals to control mosquito population is still an effective tool.
PAHO/WHO Country Representative Adrianus Vlugman said the agency strongly promotes the Integrated Management Strategy (IMS) for dengue prevention and control. He noted that the IMS aims at promoting the functional integration of the six key components for dengue control at the national and regional level; namely, social communication, integrated vector management, epidemiology, laboratory diagnosis, clinical management and the environment. “This strategy goes well beyond the health sector. It is multi-disciplinary, inter-problematic and cross boundary and includes the national health and environmental authorities and the international working group,” Vlugman said.
At the close of the workshop it is hoped that stakeholders would have a draft IMS. The draft is to serve as a prototype for adaptation in the country to ensure appropriate monitoring, supervision and evaluation of the implementation of the IMS.
GINA said dengue is a mosquito borne infection that in recent decades has become a major international public health concern. It noted that the incidence of dengue has grown dramatically across the world in recent years and about 2.5 billion people are now at risk from the epidemic. The World Health Organisation estimates there may be 50 million dengue infections worldwide every year.
