View the full post Raising minimum wage to alleviate food insecurity on NOW Grenada.

If it’s nice outside, Crichlow will walk his client, who is nonverbal and in a wheelchair half the time, down three flights of stairs, hauling the wheelchair back and forth separately.

A 49-year-old Trinidadian who lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, Crichlow works for St. Nicholas Alliance Home Care, where he earns between $17-$18 per hour. His client likes it when Crichlow imitates Mojo Jojo, a character from the TV series “The Powerpuff Girls,” or tries out Cardi B’s signature catchphrase, “Okurr.” “I do different characters that make him laugh. As long as he’s happy, I’m happy,” Crichlow said.

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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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Her infection was detected through severe acute respiratory (SARI) surveillance after she was diagnosed with the avian influenza A (H3N8) virus on February 22.

The WHO report also states that the woman had multiple underlying illnesses and a history of exposure to live poultry prior to her illness. However, no close contact with the woman developed an infection or symptoms of the disease at the time of notification. Environmental samples were collected from the patient’s residence and from the market to where she was exposed before the onset of the disease. The samples collected from the wet market were positive for H3.

To date, this is the first death from the H3N8 variant of avian influenza in the Eastern Pacific region. The WHO has reported three confirmed cases of human infection with the influenza A(H3N8) virus. The H3N8 viruses are a different subtype of influenza A virus and are not related to the H5N1 viruses that are currently spreading among wild birds and poultry throughout the world.

The WHO continues to monitor the situation and encourages people to practice good hygiene to reduce the risk of infection. They recommend avoiding contact with sick birds or their environments, thoroughly cooking poultry and eggs, and practicing good respiratory hygiene such as covering the nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Anyone experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness after being in contact with birds or their environments should seek medical attention immediately.

View the full post Ministry of Health partners with Grenlec at Mt Gay Psychiatric Hospital on NOW Grenada.

The general public can also use this opportunity to capitalise on life-saving first aid and CPR training

View the full post GHTA and Red Cross to host first aid and CPR training on NOW Grenada.

The new law is obviously aimed at abortions obtained in other states, but it’s written to criminalize in-state behavior leading to the out-of-state procedure — a clear nod to the uncertainty surrounding efforts by lawmakers in at least half a dozen states to extend their influence outside their borders when it comes to abortion law.

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View the full post CDB providing Grenada with US$9.97 million to strengthen health systems on NOW Grenada.

Barahona, DR
The emergency area of the Jaime Mota Regional University Hospital (HRUJM) was busy this Good Friday due to the number of patients who arrived for various reasons, mainly due to traffic accidents involving motorcycles.

Injured in motor vehicle accidents were Eleodoro Medina Matos, 66, Nashla Ramirez, 6, Elias Cuevas Rubio, 26, Brayelin Peña, 14, Luis David Rodriguez, 26, Nelson Daniel Peña Segura, 37, and Luciano Jimenez, 28.

Ramón Urbáez, 32 years old, a resident of the La Peñuela sector of Cabral, was taken to the local hospital’s emergency room because of a fishing spear stuck in his back, accidentally caused by a companion when they were both fishing on the “El Curro” hill.

The cases are from Batey VIII, belonging to Cristóbal and others from the provinces of Independencia, Bahoruco, and Barahona, as well as from the municipality of Tamayo. Many of them were admitted to this health center.

So far, in Barahona province, there are no records of deaths within the Easter Week: Conscience for Life, 2023 operation, except for the death of a man from Azua de Compostela who hit the motor he was driving with a vehicle near the Vicente Noble intersection.

Dozens of people moved toward the different communities of the coastal area, many of them to visit beaches, rivers, and mountains. However, despite the large number of vehicles that moved towards that part of the province, there are no reports of traffic accidents.

In addition, the different neighborhoods have remained calm during this Good Friday. In the early hours in other sectors, citizens took out their swimming pools for children and adults to bathe, despite the prohibition due to the drought affecting the country.