Climate Change is a global emergency, yet few countries have made plans to face it. Barbados Ministry of Health and Wellness staff and allied sectors recently met at the Accra Beach Resort in Barbados, to understand how climate change is affecting public health in the country, a first step in the creation of a Health National Adaptation Plan (H-NAP). 

The process to assess vulnerabilities and prioritize ways to manage or minimize the impacts of climate change in an area is called adaptation planning. H-NAPs consider the impact of climate change on people’s mental and physical health, and the social effects. These plans present actions to build climate-resilient health systems that can anticipate and protect public health. 

Barbados’ Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kenneth George, participated in the one-day meeting and took the opportunity to thank PAHO for its commitment to the development of the HNAPs. Meanwhile Acting PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados, Dr Prabhjot Singh said that climate change does affect public health directly and urgent action is required.

Under the European Union-funded CARIFORUM Climate Change and Health project, coordinated by the PAHO/WHO Caribbean Subregional Program Coordination Office, Grenada and St Lucia have completed the H-NAP and plans are underway in Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana and the Dominican Republic. Dr Alison Gajadhar, lead consultant for the development of the HNAP in Barbados stated that she was impressed by the level of participation and engagement of public health experts in Barbados.

The final HNAP Report will include key recommendations to inform the development of policy, strategy and plans and programmes to assist countries in the process of adaptation.  For more information on the project and the progress with the H-NAPs please visit the project website.

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By Anesta Henry

The Barbados Union of Teachers’ (BUT) plea for additional psychologists to be placed in schools has received full support from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Supreme Counselling for Personal Development Shawn Clarke.
He told Barbados TODAY that he has been advocating for more psychologists in schools since the resumption of face-to-face classes following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clarke, whose organisation manages an anti-bullying prevention programme in several secondary schools, said that as far as he was aware, the Ministry of Education recently placed counsellors and safety officers at some schools.
Addressing Monday’s opening of the BUT’s Annual General Conference at the Radisson Aquatica, President Rudy Lovell said that with the increase in the incidents of violence in schools, the Ministry of Education urgently needed to hire additional psychologists since the present complement was woefully inadequate.
Lovell, who also called for an increased effort to provide psychological support to at-risk students and their parents, suggested that more guidance counsellors, support services, and safety officers should be assigned to schools.
In a response, Clarke said “I do think that the services of more psychologists are needed to help with our young people. And I have been saying that the Government doesn’t need to do it on their own, everybody doesn’t need to be an employee of the Ministry of Education.
“We have enough non governmental organisations in Barbados that have access to psychologists and psychiatrists and professional development counsellors on their teams that can partner with the Ministry of Education to make these services readily available to students,” he said.
“We just need to sit at the table and come up with a way that is workable and that is mutually beneficial to both parties.”
Clarke queried whether the psychologists and counsellors in the school system are equipped with the resources to provide the intense intervention that many at-risk students need. Students need to be assigned to a psychologist for at least three years, as opposed to just for a six-week term or an academic year, he added.
“The question is are the psychologists who are in the schools adequately prepared to see one child for that extended period? Secondly, with an enrolment of almost 1 000 students at schools, some of these psychologists and counsellors, are attached to two schools.
“Counsellors now have 2 000 students when you look at it. Do they have access to the facilities to be able to do prolonged counselling? For a lot of these children, a six-week fix is no fix.”
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

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The spate of fires across the island in recent weeks has led the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) to develop a system to update the public on air quality.
CIMH climatologist Dr Cedric Van Meerbeeck says the online monitoring system has been created in collaboration with various agencies.
“Air pollution, as you know, comes from different sources. The ones we have been suffering from in the last two months were smoke from wildfires, brush fires, cane fires and grass fires. I just want you to know that the CIMH is on top of it. We have noticed it. We have worked together with different agencies and we now have a monitoring product that we will put online for everybody to use, so that you know how bad the situation is at this time because there are things you can do to protect yourself,” he said.
Dr Van Meerbeeck was responding to a question posed by a member of the audience at a panel discussion hosted by the CIMH in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, on Tuesday night, at the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management.
Senior scientist in the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory Dr. Roger Pulwarty highlighted that individuals’ health can be compromised by the combination of various pollutants in the atmosphere.
“When you add Saharan dust, when you add smoke and you add this especially indoor combination, you’re actually compounding health risks that cannot be separated immediately and that’s something we need to address,” he said.
“The complexity of the mixed pollutants [is] really the issue.”
(JB)

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(AlJazeera) – Air pollution impacts every stage of human life from foetal development and the cognitive abilities of teenagers to adult mental health, according to a report that synthesises the findings of more than 35,000 studies from around the world.

The Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London published the review on Monday of a decade of scientific studies into air pollution.

The London university team looked at findings from the World Health Organization (WHO), the UK Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution, the Royal College of Physicians, the Health Effects Institute and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

“The most important new finding is evidence related to both the impact of air pollution on brain health, including mental health and dementia, and early life impacts that could lead to future health burdens within the population,” the report said.

“Both represent significant, but currently unquantified costs to society and the economy,” it added.

The review found links between air pollution and the health of newborns in the first weeks of life, birth weight, miscarriages and stillbirths.

The fetus could be vulnerable because a mother might inhale air pollution particles, leading to adverse effects on development, the report read.

Chemicals associated with pollution can enter a pregnant woman’s blood, altering its flow, which could potentially slow or delay foetal growth.

More than 20 million babies with low birth weights are born every year and more than 15 million are born prematurely, according to the WHO.

But the impact of air pollution on reproductive health is not restricted to the mother. Lower volumes of sperm are also seen in men exposed to air pollution.

Meanwhile, another study mentioned in the report suggests “exposure to particle pollution” increases the risk of developing dementia and accelerates cognitive decline.

Recent studies also showed that air pollution could hamper lung growth in children, affect their blood pressure and impact their cognitive and mental health.

The experts at Imperial said research on 2,000 children aged eight and nine found “on average, a child had lost around 5 percent of their expected lung volume because of the air pollution that they breathed.”

“This effect was most clearly linked with exposure to NO2 [nitrogen oxide], which is often used as a tracer for the diesel exhaust emissions,” their report said.

The report also found that air pollution causes asthma.

From 2017 to 2019, a study by Imperial College London estimated that London’s poor air quality led to more than 1,700 hospital admissions for asthma and serious lung conditions.

“This was 7 percent of all asthma admissions in children in the capital,” the report said.

The review also showed that exposure to air pollution can increase cardiac death, stroke risk and the development of cardiovascular disease later in life.

A European study considered stroke in nearly 100,000 people over a 10-year period and found some evidence of an association between long-term exposure to PM2.5 – which are very small air pollution particles that can pass beyond the nose and throat and enter the respiratory system – and stroke, especially among people over 60.

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The Paediatric Department and the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic of the QEH are benefitting from a donation of US$5,000 by Trinity Church Wall Street, Manhattan, New York.

The cheque was recently presented to Dr Angela Jennings, Head of Paediatrics, by Earl Phillips of the Barbados Support Group, NY.

Both departments will use the money for IT support. Psychologists in Paediatrics will utilise items to assist in the evaluation of children with a variety of psychological disorders, while the OG clinic will purchase computers to improve health information management and communication workflows.

The money was channelled in these areas following requests from the respective departments from Dr. Jennings and former QEH employee, Acting Operations Manager Terri-Anne Moore-Knowles.

The idea for a donation from Trinity to aid health care in Barbados came from parishioner Barbadian Barbara Inniss. It was coordinated by Consul General of Barbados Mackie Holder and facilitated by Dr. Oneall Parris of Barbados Diaspora Collaborative USA (BDC USA) Inc.

CG Holder said the effort by Ms. Inniss was yet another example of Barbadians looking out for their country and praised her tenacity in making sure Barbados benefitted from the charitable donations of her church.

He said that, due to church regulations, it took some time to finalise the contribution, which involved three different players, but the end result underscored what collaboration in the Barbadian community can deliver. 

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Women with mental health and addiction issues are knocking on the doors of the Substance Abuse Foundation Inc.’s (SAF) Marina House treatment facility for help.

However, many of them have had to delay the start of treatment because they do not have a support system to adequately care for their children while they are at the New Castle, St John residential facility, according to Senior Mental Health and Addiction Counsellor with SAF, Letitia Wiltshire.

“There is a 100 per cent huge demand for our services and that has actually increased post-COVID. The issues are still there with regards to our women and the child care challenges a lot of them have. Yes, they may need the help with their addiction but they also do not want to leave their children,” said Wiltshire who explained this was why Marina House has previously partnered with the Women of Purpose organisation to provide the resources to allow a mother to have her child with her while accessing treatment.

She appealed to other agencies and charitable organisations to assist women in this position who were seeking to beat drug, sex and gambling addictions.

The counsellor stressed that a significant aspect of the healing process for mothers seeking addiction counselling was having the peace of mind that their children were being well taken care of.

“The women also need the assistance of their family members and those community members who are open to fostering a child for a period of time. We know that it is a big ask of the community; a lot of people would not feel comfortable engaging children who are not their own. But at the end of the day, it takes a village to raise a child and if one of us is sick then, unfortunately, the child can also eventually be sick. When one person with an addiction is sick, it impacts several other persons within that family, so you can do the maths.

“We have a facility that houses 16 women, so if you do the maths and you multiply that by seven, you see how many people are impacted by just one woman not being able to get the help that she needs,” she said.

Wiltshire spoke about the issue during an interview with the media on Tuesday, following the launch of the Rotary Club of Barbados’ Save, Spend, Thrive: Empowering Women Through Financial Wellness initiative, at the Christies Conference Room at the Barbados Light & Power Company, Garrison, St Michael.

“We have dealt with women who have substance abuse issues, women who have challenges with sex addiction, there are women who have challenges with gambling,” she said, noting many women had reached out during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were going through “a depressive phase” and “coming out of COVID, it is still there”.

“So we also deal with self-esteem issues and we are also helping persons with depression. Whatever the need is in terms of mental health we are there to provide that assistance,” the SAF counsellor said.

Wiltshire also noted that given the reported increase in domestic violence cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marina House had housed several women waiting to be admitted to the shelter for battered women.

“We would never turn our backs on someone who needs assistance, regardless of what the challenges are. We are going to try to help them to fill that gap until they can get to where they need,” she said.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

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(AFP) – From COVID-19 to Mpox, Mers, Ebola, avian flu, Zika and HIV, diseases transmitted from animals to humans have multiplied in recent years, raising fears of new pandemics.

– What is a zoonosis? –

A zoonosis (plural zoonoses) is a disease or infection transmitted from vertebrate animals to people, and vice versa. The pathogens involved can be bacteria, viruses or parasites.

These diseases are transmitted either directly during contact between an animal and a human, or indirectly through food or through a vector such as an insect, spider or mite.

Some diseases end up becoming specifically human, like COVID-19.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, 60 per cent of human infectious diseases are zoonotic.

– What types of diseases are involved? –

The term “zoonoses” includes a wide variety of diseases.

Some affect the digestive system, such as salmonellosis, others the respiratory system, such as avian and swine flu as well as COVID, or the nervous system in the case of rabies.

The severity of these diseases in humans varies greatly depending on the disease and the pathogen’s virulence, but also on the infected person, who may have a particular sensitivity to the pathogen.

– What animals are involved? –

Bats act as a reservoir for many viruses that affect humans.

Some have been known for a long time, such as the rabies virus, but many have emerged in recent decades, such as Ebola, the SARS coronavirus, Sars-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19) or the Nipah virus, which appeared in Asia in 1998.

Badgers, ferrets, mink and weasels are often implicated in viral zoonoses, and in particular those caused by coronaviruses.

Other mammals, such as cattle, pigs, dogs, foxes, camels and rodents, also often play the role of intermediate host.

All the viruses responsible for major influenza pandemics had an avian origin, either direct or indirect.

Finally, insects such as ticks are vectors of many viral diseases that affect humans.

– Why has the frequency of zoonoses increased? –

Having appeared thousands of years ago, zoonoses have multiplied over the past 20 or 30 years.

The growth of international travel has allowed them to spread more quickly.

By occupying increasingly large areas of the planet, humans also contribute to disrupting the ecosystem and promoting the transmission of viruses.

Industrial farming increases the risk of pathogens spreading between animals.

Trade in wild animals also increases human exposure to the microbes they may carry

Deforestation increases the risk of contact between wildlife, domestic animals and human populations.

– Should we fear another pandemic? –

Climate change will push many animals to flee their ecosystems for more livable lands, a study published by the scientific journal Nature warned in 2022.

By mixing more, species will transmit their viruses more, which will promote the emergence of new diseases potentially transmissible to humans.

“Without preventative strategies, pandemics will emerge more often, spread more rapidly, kill more people, and affect the global economy with more devastating impact than ever before,” the UN Biodiversity Expert Group warned in October 2020.

According to estimates published in the journal Science in 2018, there are 1.7 million unknown viruses in mammals and birds, 540,000 to 850,000 of them with the capacity to infect humans.

But above all, the expansion of human activities and increased interactions with wildlife increase the risk that viruses capable of infecting humans will “find” their host.

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Almost three years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic first breached the shores of Caribbean countries, causing severe economic and social dislocation and putting immense strain on health systems throughout the Region.

Now, as the Region continues its recovery, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has committed US$29.8 million to strengthen health systems in Grenada, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to better withstand future health crises.

At a meeting on Thursday, March 30, the Bank’s board of directors ratified approval of three loans in the sums of US$9.97 million, US$9.86 million and US$10 million to the Governments of Grenada, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines respectively. The funding is allocated from resources provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to CDB under the EIB Climate Action Line of Credit II – COVID-19 Component.

CDB’s Vice-President of Operations, Isaac Solomon said the COVID-19 pandemic had revealed cracks in the health-care systems, making the investment timely.

“The unrelenting demands of the pandemic unearthed and made more prominent and urgent, critical frailties in our health sector around the areas of limited human, infrastructure and institutional capacity,” said Solomon.

He added: “Accordingly, there is an urgent need for upgrading to strategically position our countries to be able to respond to present and emerging challenges. We are therefore pleased to be able to approve these resources to help strengthen resilience.”

In Grenada, the funding will assist with infrastructural works and updates at various medical facilities including the St Georges General Hospital, the Westerhall Medical Station, the St Georges Medical Station, the Grand Bras Health Facility, the New Hampshire Health Facility, the River Sallee Medical Station, the Hillsborough Health Centre and the Mt. Gay Psychiatric Hospital.

It will also fund capacity building and training for health-care workers in key areas including the Biomedical Equipment Technician Certification, rehabilitation and counselling, and risk communication. The funding will also support increased training for nurses in a range of specialities including intensive care, nephrology, neonatology, emergency care, geriatric care, oncology and nursing administration.

The loan will also cover support for purchasing of goods and equipment throughout the health sector as well as institutional strengthening initiatives such as a planned digitalisation of the health sector.

In Saint Lucia, nearly US$2 million of the funding will be utilised for purchasing critical medical equipment such as ventilators, x-ray machines, ultrasound machines and dental, neonatal and eye care equipment. The equipment will go to health facilities across the island, including the La Ressource Wellness Centre, Castries Urban Centre, Dennery Hospital, Soufriere Hospital, Comfort Bay Home for Older Persons, St. Jude Hospital and two respiratory clinics – Vieux-Fort Wellness Centre and Gros Islet Polyclinic.

Over US$3 million will be allocated for improvements at five health-care facilities. Two facilities damaged by fire in recent years – the La Ressource Wellness Centre and the Soufriere Hospital, will be refurbished and rehabilitated while the Comfort Bay Home for Older Persons, will be expanded and retrofitted. The Castries Urban Centre will be relocated and expanded and a new annex will be added to the Dennery Hospital.

Other funding will go towards procuring supplies and pharmaceuticals as well as providing a range of training and capacity building solutions for health-care workers.

Strengthening the medical supply chain will get needed investment in St Vincent and the Grenadines, with US$3.3 million of the funding to support works to establish a Central Medical Warehouse.

Nearly US$2.3 million will be put towards medical and other equipment at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, such as a new distillery system for the pharmacy, equipment for the operating theatre, maternity ward and NICU, for the wards and other departments, and a CT Scanner, X-ray Machine and Hyperbaric chamber.

Building up the skills of health-care workers is also a priority with a specific focus on filling skills gaps. Specialised training will be provided for operating theatre nurses, radiology staff, lab technicians, risk communication staff and others.

Other funding will go towards engaging additional health-care staff in key areas, the establishment of a dedicated secretariat for the Health Security Unit and the supply and installation of a medical oxygen plant.

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Public health authorities are stepping up their surveillance of food establishments across Barbados as the country battles a significant outbreak in the highly-infectious gastroenteritis disease.

Expressing concern at cases which have increased some seven-fold between the end of January and March this year, when compared to the same period last year, Chief Medical Officer (CMO)  The Most Honourable Dr Kenneth George is pleading with Barbadians not to take any chances.

“We have surveillance systems for gastroenteritis and this is how we know what is happening. Our surveillance systems have indicated that there has been an uptick not only in the public sector, but also in the private sector. This public health issue is becoming a concern,” Dr George told Barbados TODAY on Thursday.

“The Ministry of Health has been observing over the last two to three months an increase in the number of cases of gastroenteritis. Gastroenteritis is an infectious and inflammatory disease of the bowels and it may include the stomach and the intestine, and the symptoms tend to be vomiting and diarrhea. Gastroenteritis is caused mainly by bacterial and viral infection,” he explained.

With cases reaching 312 so far this year as compared to 42 for the corresponding period in 2022, the Government’s chief medical advisor said while tests have not identified any single source or event for the illness, foodborne pathogens have been seen in some areas. He also noted that no corresponding increase in respiratory diseases has been identified during the past several months.

“What I will say is that we have done the appropriate culture of specimen, and that has indicated that there is no particular one organism or no particular point source for the infection. Therefore, we will continue to monitor the situation,” the CMO stated.

There were 19 reported cases at the end of January this year and 47 at the end of March.

“Gastroenteritis is a preventable public health disease. This is the time when people are preparing a lot of food and selling a lot of food…they need to be particularly vigilant to ensure that infections are not increasing,” Dr George advised.

The CMO had a special message for people who prepare food, especially those in public spaces.

“First, handwashing is critical to prevent infection. Remember these infections are termed faeco-oral…there is contamination of the food that we eat…and that leads to the multiplication of bacteria and the presentation of symptoms. Raw foods should not be mixed with cooked foods. There should not be any cross-contamination between raw foods and cooked foods,” he pointed out.

The CMO also urged food handlers to pay special attention to the cleanliness of their utensils and the equipment on which the foods are prepared.

“In addition, the rule of thumb is that hot foods are kept hot and cold foods are kept cold. Cold foods should be maintained at a temperature of no less than 40 degrees fahrenheit and hot foods should be maintained at a temperature of above 140 degrees fahrenheit. If it is not done in this way and the foods are left for a period of time, the multiplication of the bacteria in the foods becomes higher.

“You have to be more careful that when food is particularly on the outside and waiting to be served, it needs to be kept at the appropriate temperature,” the CMO recommended.

He also warned people who prepare food they must have a health certificate and if preparation is done in a restaurant, that establishment needs to have a licence as required by law.

Dr George also appealed to people who contract gastro to report to any polyclinic or their private physician for guidance on the most appropriate actions to be taken.

“Many times antibiotic medicines are not required for gastroenteritis. On most occasions, antibiotics are not required. Persons need to maintain their hydration, and try to stay away from milk products and very greasy or oily foods,” he stated.

Dr George noted that while children under five years of age have contracted the illness, most of the cases have occurred in people over five.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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Local officials are calling on Barbadians to use the state-issued roll-out garbage cart and recycling bins correctly especially in light of a reported increase in the rat problem on the island.

Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer Ronald Chapman told Barbados TODAY that ministry officials were very concerned with the way some Barbadians were using the new collection carts, which are part of the Residential Waste Collection Improvement Project. 

“What we have been finding is that persons have been keeping the bins at their premises and continuing to put the garbage next to the street and at the curb. This has been causing us a spot of bother, because those bins are constructed in such a way, that they do not allow for rodents to get in, [and] they are hard enough that the rodents can not gnaw through them.

“When persons continue to use the old plastic bins, the 65 gallon drums with the holes at the bottom, or continue to put the garbage next to the road, then they provide sufficient food for the rodents because now the feral chickens pick it out, the dogs pull it out, and the rats have a feast,” Chapman said.   

Though communities around the island have access to these new bins, Chapman charged that some residents were refusing to use them for garbage-collecting purposes, and even went as far as just dumping their refuse on the sides of roads, in the hope that it would be collected by the SSA.

“Don’t put the garbage next to the road anymore because the [SSA workers] are not collecting it. It’s just going to sit there next to the road and cause us lots and lots of problems and it makes no sense having these state-of-the-art garbage bins tucked away in your backyard, and then the garbage next to the road, where you have to pass to get into your home.”

He stressed: “This is an issue that is contributing to the number of rodents that we are having here on the island, it is contributing to the fly breeding as well. You get a state-of-the-art bin, use it for what it was intended for, that is to store your refuse until the Sanitation Service Authority can pass and collect it.”

Chapman noted, that while some older members of the society may have difficulty moving the bins from their residences to the corner in areas where SSA trucks cannot easily access, they can leave the bins at the corner where the refuse would be collected. 

“We encourage persons like that to leave the bin at the corner, nobody is going to steal it, everybody has bins. I think some people when they got the bins, they treat them like they are too good for garbage… they are there to put refuse in, and put it in such a way that restricts flies, rodents and other vermin and stops the fowls and dogs from getting to the garbage.

Public Relations Officer with the SSA Carl Padmore, supported Chapman’s comments appealing for a more considerate disposal of garbage.

“We want Barbadians to treat to waste in a decent and sensible manner,” he said. (SB)

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