Any facilities to test for malaria?

OPPOSITION Senator Gerald Ramdeen has asked Leader of Government Business Franklin Khan if he was aware there were no facilities at the port at Cedros to test arriving Venezuelans for malaria. He posed the question in the Senate on Thursday.

Khan in response said he was not in a position to answer as he was not the minister of health. He added he would seek confirmation and provide a written follow-up answer. Ramdeen’s statement was a supplemental question after Opposition Senator Wade Mark had asked what systems were in place to test Venezuelans entering this country for the mosquito-borne disease malaria.

Mark asked about the recent influx of Venezuelans in light of reports that Venezuela has 30 per cent of all malaria cases in the Americas and whether the Health Ministry has been testing Venezuelan immigrants.

Khan, in his response, did not mention Venezuela by name but said people from countries where malaria was endemic who were suspected of transmitting malaria in the first instance were screened for signs and symptoms at ports of entry.

When positive signs were detected, he said, these people were referred to the relevant county medical officer of health and/or the Insect Vector Control Division for the requisite test for malaria in conformity with the 2005 international health regulations. Ramdeen had also asked Khan to confirm whether the Insect Vector Control Unit at Jerningham Avenue, Belmont, has been inoperative for the past six months. Khan said he was not aware of this and would have to seek advice and respond at a later date.

Newsday contacted Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh about the situation at Cedros and he referred questions to Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram. Three calls to Parasram’s cell went directly to voice mail.

Also during the sitting, Mark asked about action being taken to prevent the spread of malaria throughout the country. Khan said to mitigate the potential risk and prevent the spread, several measures were being implemented.

The measures include proposed establishment of a travel health clinic at the Insect Vector Control Division for suspected cases to access treatment for malaria using the microscopic diagnosis; increased surveillance with the use of 52 malaria evaluators throughout the country at various health institutions and legal ports of entry and also house-to-house surveys in high-risk areas.

Recent establishment of a Cabinet-appointed inter-ministerial committee to respond to the malaria threat by providing oversight and developing policies; ongoing sensitisation and consultation with key stakeholders within the health sector; and ongoing vector control measures, including spraying.