“WAR” ON THE COCKROACH, FEATURE OF VECTOR AWARENESS

Environmental Health Unit staff, Mr. Baird and Mr. Mussington

In attendance were Minister of Social Development, Edison Baird; Health Planner, Lynrod Brooks; former Chief Public Health Inspector, Stanley Mussington; and the full complement of staff led by Principal Environmental Officer, Ambrell Richardson.

In his welcome address, Mr. Richardson, who chaired the ceremony, briefly commented on his Department’s role in vector control over the years. “Let us stand tall and be proud of ourselves as we demonstrate our ability to keep Anguilla vector free,” he told his fellow workers. He called on all persons on the island, including his staff members, to play their part in vector control “whether in terms of mosquitoes, roaches, ants, ticks, fleas and other pests.”

The awareness activities, which are continuing throughout this month, are being held under the theme: “Stand Tall Do Not Crouch; Let’s Get Rid of the Cockroach,” the wording of the 2010 winning poster and slogan by Michael Christie. The preventative measures, in the “war” against the cockroach, include the following: carefully examine containers for roaches or their egg capsules; monitor their presence by setting up sticky traps; seal or caulk all cracks and crevices to eliminate hiding and breeding places; practice stock rotation and remove unnecessary clutter in rooms, and implement cleaning and maintenance schedules.

The importance of vector control was especially stressed by Mr. Mussington whose feature address appears elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian.

Mr. Baird, the Minister of Social Development, said the 12th year of vector awareness in Anguilla was a great achievement by the Department of Health Protection, in particular the staff of the Environment Health Unit. He stated that it spoke of the workers’ commitment to the job and service to the people of Anguilla.

“I must say, wholeheartedly, that we at the Ministry of Health and Social Development, are extremely proud of the effort being made in order to sensitise the people of Anguilla by making them aware of the public health importance of vectors and their diseases,” he told the employees. “Your job is by no means easy. The many challenges you face to execute your work with scarce resources, and limited work force, is indeed commendable. I will ensure that the Ministry of Health and Social Development will continue to encourage the improvement, protection, maintenance and preservation of our fragile eco-systems on a sustainable basis.”

Mr. Baird said that the various vector borne diseases had not only affected the health of the people in the Caribbean region, but also impeded their overall socio-economic development. He warned that development activities without adequate attention to the environment had increased the scope and skill of transmission of vector borne diseases.

“The failure to effectively reduce the burden of vector borne diseases has resulted from many factors – human, technical, operational, ecological and economic,” the Minister went on. “The cost, resistance and environmental concerns associated with the use of insecticides have necessitated a shift towards more rational vector control measures including the use of insecticide-treated bed nets, improvement in housing conditions, environmental management and biological control.”

Mr. Baird further told the Environment Health workers: “Twelve years of vector awareness is a testament of your dedication to the continued success of this programme. It is my hope that as we look into the future,that the Department of Health Protection seeks to promote this programme even further by having more vigorous dialogue with the Ministry of Health and Social Development.”

He concluded by saying that his Ministry was grateful to the Caribbean Commercial Bank, platinum sponsor of the vector awareness programme, for its invaluable monetary contribution of twelve thousand EC dollars and for its continued support over the past seven years. “It is our hope that other stakeholders can be attracted to the future success of this important programme,” the Minister added.

The Environmental Awareness Programme continues with a number of other activities. These include a Pre-school Jingle Competition at the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium on Wednesday, October 12; a Primary School Poster & Theme Competition- entries to be submitted on Friday, October 14; the Stanley Mussington Campus B Essay Competition and a Best Kept Cemetery Competition also to be submitted and judged respectively on that date; a Spelling B Competition on Monday, October 17 at the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium; and the closing ceremony there on Friday, October 28. There will also be two other events on Saturday, October 29: a walkathon by personnel from the Environmental Health Unit on the Leonard Carty Drive and back and a clean-up campaign in selected communities.