PORTLAND HEALTH DEPT. WORKING TO MINIMISE HEALTH RISKS

The Portland Health Department has been working assiduously to minimise environmental health risks in the parish, following the passage of Hurricane Dean on August 19.

Lorenzo Humes, Public Health Inspector for the Portland Health Department, told JIS News that several measures have been implemented in pursuit of that objective.

He said the measures include a vector control programme to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes, the monitoring of meat storage, the examination of the bacteriological quality and the chlorine residual content of the water supply in the parish, and conducting a health education programme to sensitize the people of the various communities about the importance of practising safe health habits.

Mr. Humes said the department was in the process of implementing a rodent control programme as a preventive measure against rat infestation, a problem commonly associated with the aftermath of hurricanes and other disasters.

He noted that the vector control programme included surveillance of mosquito breeding sites to identify the areas of the greatest need for treatment, adding that the programme entailed the spraying of the breeding sites and the treatment of drains and other areas containing water.

Mr. Humes pointed out that over 12,000 kilograms of meat and other products have been dumped from business places so far, as the health department intensified its meat storage monitoring programme.

He added that water supply sources operated by both the National Water Commission and the Parish Council were also being carefully monitored by the department to ensure that the water consumed by the people of Portland was of acceptable quality.