Some homeowners display hostile attitude to eradicating mosquito breeding sites – MOH

As recorded cases of dengue fever continue to increase in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Ministry of Health officials have expressed concern about the laid-back attitude by householders toward eradicating potential mosquito breeding sites and their reluctance to having their properties screened.

In early August, the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment declared a dengue fever outbreak in SVG with 119 laboratory confirmed cases recorded up to July, 2024.

In mid-August, up to 17 people had been hospitalized with the illness and as of August 22, there were a total of 542 laboratory confirmed cases.

Senior Environmental Officer, Carlos Wilson said the officers have been implementing both physical and chemical interventions to eliminate breeding sites in communities, in addition to public awareness campaigns done in collaboration with the Health Promotion Unit.

Speaking on an August 21 edition of VC’3 Round Table Talk, Wilson noted with concern incidents of resistance from householders, with some even threatening physical harm.

“You will have some resistance sometimes. There are persons who will…actually threaten you. They will say if you turn over the water they will ‘chop you up’ in local parlance, and they will get aggressive.”

Wilson said in cases where officers are threatened, they call on the police for assistance. He said instances when householders resist screenings it is because they are in breach of environmental measures to control mosquito breeding.

“Most times when persons resist, they are the continuous breeders. I have a colleague in Antigua who is in environmental health and he says ‘Antiguans are breeding mosquitoes as pets’, and I’ll say the same thing for us. Because when you go into the yard and you have 55-gallon barrel drums breeding mosquitoes on a continuous basis, this week, three months, four months after and still breeding, that is being presumptuous. They will refuse to screen, sometimes they refuse entry. So you do have that kind of push back from the public, but generally the public is receptive.”

The health official said despite the continued efforts by the department as well as the notices from the Ministry of Health about the severity of Dengue fever, members of the public are still not taking the necessary precautions to eliminate breeding sites around their properties and other areas in their communities.

“ …I don’t think that we take things seriously as it relates to dengue because if we were taking it seriously our response as individual householders, property owners, and the community would have a greater response to the situation even before now that it has become crisis state.”

He added, “As we always say in the Ministry of Health, it is a shared responsibility. We come to your property, show you how to screen the drum, how to clean it, and three weeks later you gone back to square one. That is evidence that we are not taking it seriously.”

In light of the Dengue fever outbreak and the upcoming school term set to start in early September, the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, has set out a number of recommendations for school-approved clothing for students as well as maintenance of school plants.