Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/5142/-1/135/
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PS Health Warns Pandemic Influenza Real Threat
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Anguillians have been warned that they cannot afford to sit back while Pandemic Influenza ravishes some countries and not to prepare for the day when the disease may strike the island.
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Minister Evan Rogers (centre) and other health personnel
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The warning has come from Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Development, Dr. Bonnie Richardson-Lake. She was at the time addressing a two-day National Influenza Preparedness Planning Workshop at Paradise Cove on Tuesday, August 28, attended by health personnel on the island.
“Planning for Pandemic Influenza has been a challenge in Anguilla due in part to limited human resources and competing demands. In addition to these constraints, many of us do not see Pandemic Influenza as being an imminent threat,” she observed. “While our National Disaster Plans as they relate to hurricane preparedness have seen great improvement, Pandemic Influenza planning continues to simmer on the back burner…When we consider pandemic influenza, however, we may ask ourselves who invest so much time, money and energy to prepare for a disaster that may never come.
“News stories about avian flu outbreaks in Asia, and places which seem worlds away, do not strike the same cord as a hurricane passing through the Caribbean region. But let us not be fooled. Pandemic influenza is a real threat which cannot be ignored. Failure to plan for the possibility of pandemic influenza outbreak is akin to not boarding up your windows and securing your property in a hurricane.”
Dr. Richardson-Lake went on to provide some chilling possible statistics about what Anguilla’s situation would likely be if there were an outbreak of the disease.
“Based on our 2001 census data, if Anguilla were to experience an outbreak similar to the influenza epidemic in the 60’s and the 70’s we would experience 6 deaths, an average of 31 persons requiring hospitalisation and an average of 1,550 persons requiring outpatient services. What’s worse, if we were to experience a 1918 type outbreak there would be 54 deaths, 254 persons requiring hospitalisation and 2,710 requiring outpatient care.
“Weigh those numbers against these facts: Anguilla’s funeral homes can currently accommodate about 4 dead bodies at a time; we have a 36-bed hospital; there are no ICU beds on island; there are no ventilators; an influenza pandemic would result in over 7,000 work days lost – a major blow to our economy; and in 2007 Anguilla’s population stands at approximately 14,000 as opposed to 11,561 in 2001 which means the numbers quoted are a gross under-estimation.”
The Anguillian health official added: “Now tell me: can we afford to sit back and wait and see what might happen? Absolutely not, and that is why we are here today. Over the next two days we must fill in the gaps that still exist in our National Influenza Preparedness Plans and begin to examine how this plan will work in practice.”
The facilitator for the workshop was Dr. Heather Armstrong, Programme Officer for PAHO. She said her role was to assist Anguilla with the implementation of its plans and the workshop was a continuation of one held in Barbados. “At this workshop we hope to accomplish some revision and finalisation of the plans, look at the needs to be addressed and how this can be done with the limited resources we have as a small island,” she explained.
She stressed the need for team work so that all the plans could be finalised.
Health Planner Lynrod Brooks, who chaired the opening ceremony, noted that three times in the last century the disease caused widespread illness, deaths and huge social disruption in just a few weeks in various parts of the world. “There is rising concern that a new influenza virus with pandemic potential will emerge and spread and another pandemic can be expected. When that will be is not known, but the consequences will be detrimental,” he stressed. He added that advanced planning was “essential to establish and rehearse contingency arrangements to identify and address gaps in our preparedness so that we are in the best possible position to manage an emergency and minimise its impact.”