A privately-owned healthcare institution, Royalty Home-Care and Private Nurse Services, has expanded its operations and is now training patient care assistants at its Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo  headquarters. Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Royalty Home-Care and Private Nurse Services, Nurse Alicia Solomon, who is also studying to become a medical doctor, said the institution ...

The study, published in The Lancet Microbe, does not rule out the possibility that the virus (monkeypox virus or MPXV, for short) is transmitted through the air, though direct contact, particularly with skin lesions of an infected person, remains the most common mode of infection.

The monkeypox virus, which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus, can be transmitted between animals and humans, and while its symptoms are similar to those of smallpox (which was eradicated in 1980), it is less severe, contagious, and lethal. The disease, which is endemic in Central and Western Africa, is primarily spread through close contact.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a worldwide outbreak of monkeypox a global health emergency in May 2022. Since then, more than 79,000 cases have been confirmed, which is more than the total number of cases recorded in Africa since the virus was discovered in 1970. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), there were 25,400 confirmed cases in Europe up until November 8, with more than 7,300 cases recorded in Spain.

“According to our planning, it is estimated, if there is no variation, that there will be 10 billion this year.” says Dr. Mario Lama of the National Health Service (SNS),  “the pressure of the occupation of the general hospitals total 14% of the resources for Haitian patients,” the official said.

Although the maternity sector receives the most funding, approximately six billion pesos, the doctor emphasized that it is not only parturients and children who require neonatal care, but also patients with HIV, cancer, and those injured in fights or traffic accidents, among other circumstances.

Rivera’s 14% figure refers to the sum of the Public Health budget (8,300 million) and the SNS budget (75,000 million), which totals 83,300 million. The health sector’s overall budget is 123 billion pesos.

View the full post Nationwide survey on perceptions of Human Papillomavirus on NOW Grenada.

Building upon the Caribbean’s innovative and successful partnership between tourism and health, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has launched the first CARICOM (Caribbean Community)-approved health safety and environmental sanitation (HSE) hospitality standards to improve health, safety, and environmental quality in the regional hospitality sector, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The standards – which include Food Safety and Sanitation; Energy Management; Water Treatment and Management; Sewage Treatment and Management; Solid Waste Management; Integrated Pest Management; and Environmental Management Systems – were unveiled by CARPHA at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort in Tobago on Monday, November 14, with the support of senior officials of the Tobago government, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA).

Dr Joy St John, CARPHA’s Executive Director, who earlier this year signed an agreement with the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) to further develop the standards, said these seven regional clean and green standards are a key component for providing assurance to travelers about company commitment to health and safety and towards avoiding or mitigating health threats to the Caribbean tourism product.

Each of the standards is equipped with an assessment checklist to easily guide the industry through a process of recognizing and achieving the standards. Upon completion, after verification by CARPHA, the company will be eligible to receive CARPHA’s Tourism Health Program (THP) Healthier, Safer Tourism Award.

“There is now a verifiable way of having the suite of standards act as a crucial tool for establishing the quality of Caribbean tourism,” Dr St John stated.

Health and tourism professionals throughout the Caribbean have placed a high priority on the well-being and health and safety of the industry’s employees and travelers. Through the intervention of a unique partnership with CTO and CHTA, established by CARPHA in 2014, the Caribbean was well positioned to respond strategically during the pandemic and now during its recovery.

In 2020 and 2021, CARPHA also trained 7,000 hospitality professionals in preventing and controlling COVID-19 in the tourism sector. This contributed to the Caribbean tourism product’s ability to rebound quickly after the end of the “lockdown” phase of the pandemic.

The standards are currently voluntary and certified properties that meet all seven standards will be eligible for a platinum distinction.

Dr Lisa Indar, CARPHA’s Director of the Surveillance Disease Prevention and Control Division – who recently facilitated THP stakeholder training in preparation for the Tobago carnival last month – was congratulated by senior officials for her leadership and commitment to the process of standards development since 2018.

Dr Faith B Yisrael, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary for Health, Wellness and Social Protection, Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection, Tobago House of Assembly, congratulated CARPHA and its partners for developing the standards. She encouraged tourism stakeholders to utilize them and not leave them on shelves gathering dust: “If we pull together and if we actually follow these robust standards … we would all really truly survive whatever is to come next.”

Councillor Tashia Burris, Secretary for Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation, Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation, Tobago House of Assembly, said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that having robust policies, standards and regulations can help save lives and livelihoods.

Neil Walters, Acting CTO Secretary General, believes the standards are another incremental step towards ensuring the future of the region’s tourism sector: “I believe we are laying the foundation for a more sustainable, world-class, regional tourism sector as this very important sector moves forward in its recovery.”

Frank Comito, Special Advisor to CHTA, which has supported the health and safety awards program from its inception, noted that the standards can uplift the tourism industry’s continued commitment to the health and safety of its employees and visitors, “which can help us to deliver our promise to the world and there is no better place for mental, physical and spiritual well-being than in the Caribbean.” (PR)

The post CARPHA introduces new CARICOM-approved hospitality industry standards for the region appeared first on Barbados Today.

“Grenada’s history and traditional wealth is based on being an agrarian nation where agriculture and agro-processing were key drivers”

View the full post Agro Processing, Agriculture 2.0 on NOW Grenada.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supported the […]

“All the actors had the opportunity to broadly express their points of view respectfully, all their aspirations are legitimate, and now we must try to validate those aspirations with the realities and the public sector’s willingness to build solutions,” said Labor Minister Luis Miguel De Camps after the meeting.

De Camps, president of the CNSS, was accompanied by Daniel Rivera, Minister of Public Health, in a meeting that produced no results. The CMD’s president, Senén Caba, did not attend the meeting, and the doctors’ position is that they will not provide consultation services to ARS affiliates tomorrow and Friday. “With the realization of this first meeting, the dialogue table was formed; we send a clear signal that President Luis Abinader’s Government intends to respond responsibly and quickly to the claims of the sectors,” De Camps added, announcing that an upcoming meeting will be held after “consultations” between the sectors.

Representatives from the CMD, the ARS, the Health Service Providers (PDSS), and the Dominican Association of Private Clinics (Andeclip) attended the meeting. Similarly, the Directorate of Information and Defense of Social Security Affiliates (DIDA), the Dominican Institute for Prevention and Protection of Occupational Risks (Idoppril), and the Security Treasury Social.

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Medical College announces indefinite suspension for Mapfre and other ARS

Nearly half of the world's population, or 3.5 billion people, suffer from oral diseases, the majority of them in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The most common oral illnesses are tooth decay, severe gum disease, tooth loss and oral cancers, with untreated tooth decay affecting nearly 2.5 billion people, the United Nations agency said.

About 380,000 new cases of oral cancers are diagnosed every year, it said.

HAITI SEES A SURPRISE RETURN OF CHOLERA, AS A GANG BLOCKADE CAUSES A SHORTAGE OF DRINKING WATER

WHO cited large out-of-pocket expenditure and the unavailability of highly specialized dental equipment in primary healthcare facilities as two of the reasons for the high prevalence of oral diseases, especially in poor countries.

"Oral health has long been neglected in global health, but many oral diseases can be prevented," said WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The agency suggested countries include equitable oral health services as part of their national planning and integrate oral health services into their primary health care models, while also improving access to affordable fluoride toothpaste, among other measures.

“Sandals Foundation and Catherine Cecilia Foundation gifts learning and play resources to schools”

View the full post Strengthening the power of play on NOW Grenada.