Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week Launched To Raise Awareness On Preventing Zika
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - Eliminating mosquito breeding sites, avoiding mosquito bites, and protecting pregnant women from Zika virus are the key messages of the inaugural Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week, launched today by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the CARICOM Secretariat.
With the slogan “Fight the bite, destroy mosquito breeding sitesâ€, this first Mosquito Awareness Week, 9-15 May, will focus on Zika and the risks associated with the disease, especially for pregnant women. The annual week was declared at the 17th meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government in November 2014.
This is the first year that Caribbean countries will engage in this campaign, a joint initiative between member states and the three organisations, that aims to raise awareness of the need to eliminate mosquito breeding sites and use personal protection to prevent mosquito borne diseases.
On 1 February 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, following the increase in neonatal malformations and neurological disorders associated with the circulation of the Zika virus. Local Zika virus transmission has been reported in 37 countries and territories of the Americas.
Cases of Zika virus were first seen in the Caribbean in November of 2015 Read more
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