EDITORIAL: Vector control key
According to the Ministry of Health, its vector control efforts over the years have reaped varying measures of success.
Of late, the focus is being placed on the activity of fogging in local communities, to keep down the dreaded mosquito population. Health officials have seemingly stepped up their game in how they approach this exercise, as they have also taken to communities to announce their arrival, ahead of the exercise, outside of their issuing of the relevant information by way of the press.
Now this matter of vector control is an interesting one, as there have been some who appreciate the fogging exercise, whilst others have had some issues with it. Some have questioned the effectiveness of fogging and some say it poses great harm to those with respiratory issues.
About two years ago, it was placed on public record however, that the Vector Control Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness would not be doing away with its fogging programme, given the belief that it does serve as a key intervention measure in tackling the adult mosquito population. A key health official told this newspaper at the time, that whilst there had been complaints from some members of the public with respiratory ailments about the effects of the fog on their health, the Health Ministry often advised such persons to remove themselves from the area to be fogged, to avoid any issues. Another key official said at the time that the impetus for ramped up mosquito control efforts in the region, came with the apparent regular introduction of “new” debilitating diseases, which were all efficiently transmitted by the resident Aedes aegypti mosquito. Hence the efforts of the Vector Control Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, assisted by Environmental Health Officers of the various polyclinics in the inspection of premises, community engagement and periodic fogging with insecticides, since the 1950s would continue. Whilst it has been acknowledged that some private sector companies have entered the market, spraying with newer insecticides, it was however pointed out that this action could rapidly provoke insecticide resistance and therefore, such action required constant monitoring. A connection was therefore being closely kept with the reference laboratory at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the only facility in the region where insecticide resistance testing was available.
Now we can never argue about the need for vector control in Barbados, be it to control the population of mosquitoes, rodents or other dangerous creatures that can pose harm to the public. Let us consider that when Chikungunya swept through the region, entering Barbados in 2014, it caused many persons to have acute and recurrent severe joint pains, with predictable work and school absenteeism. The following year, the first cases of Zika virus disease were seen in Barbados and the outbreak and appearance of complications including increased cases of Zika Congenital Syndrome and Guillain-Barre Syndrome were registered in 2016. It was only in May of this year that the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) urged residents in various countries across the region to do their best to protect themselves against mosquito-borne diseases, even in the midst of the present COVID-19 pandemic, given that during the last quarter of 2020, several CARPHA Member States reported localised outbreaks of the mosquito borne disease, Dengue Fever which placed an even greater burden on national health systems already engaged in managing the pandemic.
Thus, it may be argued that traditional vector control measures may have to be further employed, until we have new ones coming on stream, to keep Barbadians safe.