Other OECS territories to adopt measures taken by SVG for preventing ebola

St Vincent and the Grenadines has been singled out and congratulated for taking the initiative to restrict the entry of persons from ebola-affected countries to our shores.

At the press conference to mark the close of the two-day council meeting of OECS health ministers, it was announced that the other OECS {{more}}territories, including newest member Martinique, would adopt the measures taken by St Vincent and the Grenadines since August 29 this year.

Director general of the OECS Secretariat Didacus Jules announced that the meeting of ministers had decided to take this country’s stance, and would be incorporating the assistance of other partners to further prevent the presence of ebola in the region.

“….Drawing on the best practices of some other territories, and here I must recognize the proactive stance of the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines in being the first OECS territory to take serious measures for containment and prevention of a potential ebola threat, which has been since emulated by other countries like St Lucia; but we are now looking to make these measures universal across the single space of the OECS.

“Now, because we are now a single space and remember we have moved to the stage of freedom of movement of people within the OECS, the tragic reality is that even before the freedom of movement, there is the movement of disease, so we now have to be in step; all of us on the same page and all of the measures put in place by St Vincent and the Grenadines are going to be adopted by the OECS countries and further measures are going to be put in place.”

Jules pointed out that some of these measures include partnering with health institutes CARPHA (Caribbean Public Health Agency) and PAHO (Pan American Health Organization), as well as incorporating the assistance of Cuba.

“You may have known that Cuba sent 350 doctors and health workers to the heart of the crisis in Africa to assist. Now the Cubans would not send those people unprepared, so we have already made contact with the government of Cuba to get assistance, seeking to get expertise placed at the OECS Secretariat to assist in the coordination and the refinement of the plans we have started making … so that once a case presents itself anywhere in the OECS, we know how to deal with it and we know how to put the protocols of treatment in place.”

At the end of August, the local Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment released a statement declaring that restrictions had been placed on persons wishing to enter the country, who had visited Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, in the previous 28 days.

Those travelling here from Nigeria or any other West African country in the previous 28 days are required to present at any port of entry to St Vincent and the Grenadines, a negative blood test result for ebola, done not more than 7 days prior to leaving their home country to come to St Vincent and the Grenadines, in order to be allowed in, the release said.