Deyalsingh: Combating dengue was 'uphill battle'

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh described combating this year's dengue outbreak as an "uphill battle."

He said his classified it in this way because of challenges with the media and opposition-led regional corporations in southern and eastern Trinidad.

As of the ministry's most recent update on the mosquito-borne disease on November 25, there were 19 fatalities and 2,004 laboratory-confirmed cases for the year.

After he visited babies born on Boxing Day at the San Fernando General Hospital on Thursday, Newsday asked what lessons were learnt in their response and what would be done differently in 2025 to mitigate the occurrence.

Deyalsingh said: "I think the lessons are for the media, because we started preparing this country for dengue in January. Unfortunately, the media fell into the trap that opposition corporations in south and eastern (Trinidad) that were driving the public to believe that mosquitoes were breeding in dirty, mossy drains with weeds.

"No matter how I begged the media that the main source of the Aedes aegypti is in your household, in your yards, where you have clean, clear, standing water – the media for a month and a half kept on repeating those allegations that dengue was being spread from dirty, mossy drains.

"That was regrettable."

He lamented that when he and the ministry spoke, they did not get the same traction and attention as the others.

"We lost a month and a half, blaming dirty, mossy drains, when the blame lies in your buckets, in your gutterings, in your flower vases, and I kept telling the media that."

"It was an uphill battle getting the media and the public to understand."

He said the ministry even had staff of its Insect Vector Control Division demonstrating how the mosquitoes could not breed in dirty water.

With these problems outlined, Newsday asked how, as an authority for health, the ministry intends to rectify this for the upcoming year. To this, Deyalsingh said: "I would keep imploring the media to follow the science."

He said Southern Trinidad was a hotspot for dengue cases and one apparent reason was that residents did not clean around their homes as the ministry advised.

Early in the outbreak at the start of the rainy season, heads of the Penal Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC) and the Siparia Borough Corporation complained about inadequate resourcing for mosquito spraying and cleaning drains. Deyalsingh at the time warned over-spraying was not to be encouraged, as it was not only harmful to animals but could also lead to mosquitoes building up resistance to the chemicals.

In a bid to curb the outbreak, the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government began what it called an "aggressive campaign" to clean up vacant lots. It kicked off on August 5 in the PDRC and San Fernando City Corporation areas.