Stephanie Elliott, Gleaner Writer
MAY PEN, Clarendon:
THE MINISTRY of Health was heavily criticised by the Clarendon Parish Council which expressed its disappointment at the ministry's approach to the leptospirosis outbreak in the parish.
This was stated by Milton Brown, chairman of the parish council, at a press conference organised by the council last Thursday.
Mayor Brown reported that councillors had lambasted the Ministry of Health for what they described as the lack of intervention since the outbreak. Six persons have since died and there have been 45 reported cases since October for that parish.
He said that councillors are of the opinion that the Ministry needs to act immediately by providing rat poison, cleaning agents and facilitating the treatment of water supplies in northern Clarendon.
SHOULD BE MORE PROACTIVE
The council was of the opinion that the ministry should have been more proactive in the implementation of strategies to prevent the further outbreaks as all that done was the collection of data.
Arising out of an emergency meeting, Mayor Brown reports that public education was under way. He said that the message of prevention and control of the disease have been extended to schools and churches by means of letters and flyers.
The mayor said that the council had sought the assistance of the Rural Agricultural Development Agency , the Jamaica Information Service and the Jamaica Agricultural Society to intensify the public education programme in a bid to ensure that vulnerable groups are reached. The National Solid Waste Management Authority has also been assisting with a clean-up drive launched by the Clarendon Parish Council.
