Caroni East MP: Ministry must give more help to Zika-affected children

The UNC has called on the Ministry of Health to do more for those dealing with the negative effects of the Zika virus, especially children who were born with deformities because their mothers were infected with the virus during pregnancy.

Dr Rishad Seecheran, the UNC's shadow health minister and MP for Caroni East, made the comment during a UNC media conference on Sunday morning. He was accompanied by former education minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh.

During a Zika outbreak in 2016, 294 pregnant women contracted the virus. Pregnant women are not currently tested for Zika unless they are symptomatic.

Zika can cause an array of serious birth defects, including microcephaly and other brain abnormalities.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the US describesmicrocephaly as "a condition where a baby's head is much smaller than expected.

"During pregnancy, a baby's head grows because the baby's brain grows. Microcephaly can occur because a baby's brain has not developed properly during pregnancy or has stopped growing after birth, which results in a smaller head size."

Children with microcephaly can suffer from seizures, feeding problems, hearing loss, vision problems and learning difficulties during their lifetime.

Seecheran said, "I call on minister Deyalsingh to do his job and serve these families as they were his own. These children need specialised care to walk and to do many basic functions. It is a great burden on these affected families to undertake this care, which they must do under personal cost."

He added that the State should be willing to do more since microcephaly is a lifelong commitment. He also asked Deyalsingh for Zika rehabilitation centres like that of the Associacao de Assistencia a Crianca Deficiente in Brazil, a rehabilitation centre for disabled children in the city of Recife.

Though TT lacks a rehabilitation centre, there is a Zika Foundation, whose president is former chief of staff at the Mt Hope Women's Hospital Dr Karen Sohan.

Calls for 24/7 healthcare in Guayaguayare

Seecheran also said the people of Guayaguayare are calling for round-the-clock health care. He said Guayaguayare residents were not able to get to the Mayaro Health Facility quickly enough in an emergency, and ambulances coming from other health facilities took too long to arrive.

Seecheran said a resident from the area claimed elderly people and children suffering from asthma were unable to get health care when needed, especially on weekends, when the Guayaguayare Outreach Health Centre was closed.

Speaking with Newsday on Sunday, Ronald Tsoi-a-Fatt CEO of the Eastern Regional Health Authority confirmed that Guayaguayare Outreach Health Centre was closed on the weekends, since it was a remote facility.

He added that the health centre did have the level of services necessary to be open 24/7.

Tsoi-a-Fatt clarified information on the Guayaguayare Outreach Health Centre, which says it opens on weekends, saying, "Before covid19, we used to have a general-practice clinic open on short hours on the weekends.
"But we used to have one patient sometimes, if that many. So we had to make some adjustments because of resources."

Tsoi-a-Fatt did not say if the website would be updated.

Seecheran added that the resident said many were unable to travel to the Mayaro District Health Facility – open 24/7 – for care. The resident also claimed a pregnant woman had to wait for an ambulance from Princes Town District Health Facility since there was none at the Mayaro facility.

Tsoi-a-Fatt said, however, that the ambulance service at the Mayaro District Health Facility was very active in transferring cases from Guayaguayare to Mayaro. He added that people could also contact the Global Medical Response of TT if needed.

"But the service is reliable and continuous from 8 am-4 pm at Guayaguayare," he said.

He said there were constant upgrades to the service in order to meet the needs of the people served. Tsoi-a-Fatt said in conjunction with the other regional health authorities, the Health Ministry is working on improving ambulance services further in preparation for the rainy season and possible drastic flooding.

He said they would order a number of new ambulances to improve effectiveness. He added that, every year, consultations have been held in the communities to hear their concerns and offer them solutions.

Legislation needed to combat childhood obesity, reduce prevalence of NCDs

Seecheran said there was an urgent need for the Health Minister to initiate measures to combat childhood obesity and reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

"There is a need for legislation on front-of-package warning labels, national dietary guidelines, as well as a national childhood obesity prevention programme."

He said for NCDs, other entities must be involved in the fight, as many of the country's recorded covid19-related deaths were also dealing with one or more NCDs.