MoH dispatches medications to flood-affected regions

…no major health complaints reported

Medications to treat water-borne illnesses have been dispatched to the flood-affected areas in the event of an outbreak. This was according to Health Minster, Dr Frank Anthony on Tuesday who stated that ointments, creams, and oral rehydration solutions have now been made available to residents.
“In anticipation of rashes and so forth, we have sent in skin ointments and creams to various regions. In anticipation that children might get diarrhoeal diseases, we have sent in the ORS (oral rehydration solutions) and bleach to help to purify water. We’re anticipating and ensuring that supplies are closer to the point of usage. So far, we haven’t had any major health complaints,” Dr Anthony stated.
He added that health workers will be monitoring the situation. Due to the widespread inundation, he noted that it has been a challenge to continue the COVID-19 vaccination in those areas.

“The health staff now have to do the monitoring for things like diarrhoeal diseases and other water-borne diseases and so forth…We’re still pushing ahead with our vaccination programme. It is challenging. It is difficult but we’re still moving ahead because we want people to be vaccinated as soon as possible.”
On Sunday, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) reported that the regions that have experienced severe flooding are Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). In addition, it stated that over 15,000 hampers were distributed to the flood-affected areas within the past few days.
Just a few days ago, the Minister had issued a warning, stating that that attention should be placed on ensuring that water sources are free from contamination during floods.
This can cause illnesses in both children and adults. He added that apart from sourcing drinking water elsewhere, persons can also opt to use bleach or boil their water for safe consumption.
“If water supplies have been contaminated, people would be drinking that contaminated water. A lot of times, because the sewage can be flooded, it mixes with the water that probably they would be using to drink. We have to make sure that if that is happening, they get a better source of water.”
“Some people have been capturing rain water and if you have rain water, it also means that you can add bleach so whatever bacteria is in the water, you can kill the bacteria so that you get water that is free from contaminants. A simple thing is to boil water. Once you boil it, it would kill the bacteria,” the Minister had stated.
Persons were urged to take extra precaution to reduce the risks of skin and diarrhoeal infections.
“For those communities that have experienced flooding, I would urge that you take those extra precautions to keep your water supply safe. If you do that then, then we’ll not see an increase in the diarrhoeal diseases, especially in children. In addition to diarrhoeal diseases that we normally see, we’re also on the lookout for skin rashes because would be walking through the water. They can get skin infections. That’s another thing that we’re on the lookout for,” Dr Anthony stated.