The swift action by the Ministry of Health and Social Development advising the people of Anguilla about the Swine Flu, now spreading across the world, is not only timely, but responsible and commendable.

The speed of travel across the globe these days, and the large numbers of people involved, along with infections they may carry of one form or another, make it extremely important for every country to protect its borders and people from imported communicable diseases. The recent outbreak of Swine Flu, which originated in Mexico, has spread quickly to the United States and many cases have now turned up in various other parts of the world. It is only a matter of time before some cases may be discovered in our region and small islands like Anguilla can be overrun if we are not extra careful. One case of the virus would be too much for us.
We here have been very concerned recently over the single case of imported TB involving an East Asian worker and there has been a flurry of activity by medical personnel to prevent its spread. This has shown how easy it is for a communicable disease to slip into our island when our surveillance guard is either negligent or inoperable. The truth is that our Immigration and Health systems may for too long have lacked the necessary policy directives and machinery to question and otherwise deal with persons, especially from disease-prone places, or to try to verify their medical records if and when they were presented at the ports of entry. We have had a number of Mexican workers on the island and it is to our good fortune that none of them turned up with communicable health problems to put our population at risk (although anyone else can spread the virus). It is a relief that the Indian case of TB, referred to above, has apparently been contained.

From time to time our Immigration Regulations have been updated and strengthened. There now appears to be a need to come up with some additional clauses to ensure, as far as possible, that visitors comply with the same medical travel requirements they have to satisfy in other parts of the world. As a tourist destination it will be necessary for Anguilla to show a high degree of sensitivity in dealing with persons coming to the island. If the measures taken are carried out with prudence, it is not foreseen that there will be any difficulty or embarrassment involved in the process. To refer to an often-used phrase, “it is not what you do, but how it is done.”
In every circumstance, when steps are required to be taken to avoid some ominous situation, precaution is always the best form of defence and safeguard. That is why we have the advanced, long and sometimes boring advisories on hurricane preparedness. Certainly, there are some communicable diseases and other illnesses that can be worse than hurricanes, defying medical expertise and posing a menacing threat to human life.

The world has become a planet of various diseases many of which can be avoided if the right methods of prevention and treatment are assiduously followed. Anguilla must join each country not only in safeguarding their borders from terrorists and violence, but from the diseases that stalk the populations through travel. The pandemic threat of the Swine Flu is one of the current determining factors to address.

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