Ebola response getting attention at Miami meeting

Aug 03, 2016 News

Dr. Joshua DaSilva

The deliberations at the PAHO member states meeting slated for September are expected to draw from an ongoing consultation currently being held in the United States. The consultation in Miami, Florida, entails discussion on the role of the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) in the Ebola outbreak and response.
Although Guyana did not record any case of Ebola, it had however put measures in place to prevent its access when an outbreak was reported in some African territories.
Part of the local response included a move by Government, in early September 2014, to issue travel restrictions as part of its efforts to prevent the entry of Ebola to Guyana.
“The travel restriction is really an enforcement of the rule that was existing; what is required, is that persons travelling from almost all of the African countries need to have visas prior to boarding an airline to Guyana,” Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud had informed.
He noted then, that while in the past travellers from African countries were allowed to come to Guyana and then be issued with visas on arrival, the threat of Ebola caused Government to revert to an original arrangement, where travellers from Africa must apply abroad, be it in South Africa, New York or any other country where Guyana has missions, prior to travelling.
However, applying for the visa had some preconditions, including the fact that persons who wanted to come to Guyana from the African states had to provide a certificate to say that they are free from Ebola. Those travel arrangements have since become lax.
The ongoing consultation is being represented at the PAHO/WHO forum – which commenced on Monday and will culminate today – by Director of Veterinary Public within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Joshua DaSilva.
Dr. DaSilva has held this post since 2002 and has been lecturing part-time at the University of Guyana, Faculty of Health Sciences in the area of Vector Control and Communicable Diseases, and Food Hygiene since 1992.
The Veterinary Public Health Director is himself a product of the University of Guyana and University of Havana, Cuba, in Veterinary Medicine.
The consultation he is attending will focus on the discussion of the 12 recommendations by the IHR Review Committee on the role of the IHR (2005) in the Ebola Outbreak and Response. The objective is to inform on the debate of PAHO Member States during the 55th PAHO Directing Council/68th Regional Committee for the Americas, in Washington D.C. on September 26-28, 2016.
Following the endorsement by the 158th PAHO Executive Committee held in Washington D.C. in June 2016, it paved the way for the IHR Regional Consultation being held in Miami, Florida. The consultation meeting was planned and organized the PAHO/WHO Unit of International Health Regulations, Epidemic Alert and Response, and Water Borne Disease.

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