Residents concerned with increase in malaria in Santo Domingo West
Santo Domingo West mayor Francisco Peña has admitted to an increase in malaria in his municipality. The explanation he has given: “Where there are Haitians, there will be malaria,” he said. He explained that the Haitians have erected illegal housing that creates unsanitary conditions. He said around 100,000 Haitians live in the municipality and constantly travel to and from Haiti. Malaria is common in Haiti.
As reported in El Dia, 65% of the recent malaria cases have occurred in the Santo Domingo West municipality. Dr. Jose Manuel Puello of the Ministry of Public Health acknowledged the increase in malaria cases in the municipality over the past two months and said among control actions is the use of fumigating to eliminate the mosquitoes.
Although new cases of malaria are registered almost every day, the country has this disease under control, mostly due to the government’s work in malaria prevention. Also, Ministry of Health has cited major advances that promise to eradicate the disease by 2020.
The director of Health Management in the Population, a part of the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. José Manuel Puello, who has led the fight against malaria for several years when he was the director of the National Center for the Control of Tropical Diseases told reporters that the country is going towards the elimination of malaria. Nonetheless, he pointed out that this is an island shared by two countries and that it is not possible to eliminate the disease totally in one of the countries without it being eliminated in the other.
Between 2013 and 2015, the Dominican Republic was awarded the prize of champion in the fight against malaria in the Americas, given by the Pan-American Foundation for Health and Education, and the Milken Institute at the School of Public Health at George Washington University together with the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University and the Pan-American Health Organization and the World Health Organization.
So far, the outbreak of malaria affecting the country is centered mostly in the town of Los Alcarrizos, a part of West Santo Domingo, with 30 cases reported. Another 16 cases were reported in Higüey in La Altagracia. Officials in West Santo Domingo have undertaken a door to door educational program that includes spraying in order to reduce the number of mosquitoes that carry this disease.
Source: DR1, Eldia, DiarioLibre
Sep 11, 2018
Category: DR News |