CARPHA ENGAGES PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN BOOSTING VECTOR SURVEILLANCE
The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is engaged in the rollout of the regionally approved Integrated Public Health Surveillance Strategy Project across its Members States. Under one of the priority areas for this strategy, CARPHA is seeking to build capacity in Vector Borne Disease surveillance.
CARPHA has partnered with the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to further build capacity in the control of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases using new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology.
The Vector control staff within the Public Health Department will soon begin using an electronic tablet-based GIS system to do premise inspections. This will replace the older, outdated paper-based inspection forms and modernize the operations of the vector control unit.
Currently, CARPHA has convened training at the Fisheries Conference Room. The overall objective of the training is to improve the Ministry’s ability to detect and respond to areas with high levels of mosquito infestation and thereby significantly reduce the risk of arboviral disease transmission (e.g., Dengue) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
It is expected that this will greatly enhance the Integrated Vector Management (IVM) Strategy for the country and also provide better real-time, evidence-based, targeted vector control operations.
This GIS training is being facilitated by Senior Technical Officer, Vector Borne Diseases Unit Rajesh Ragoo, and CariVecNet Coordinator, CARPHA Jenna Indarsingh. Funding for these training activities is provided through the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Zika and Other Mosquito Borne Diseases Project. The Training began on April 11 and runs until April, 14, 2023.
