Nevis, West Indies. ?A Non-Tourist-Trap? Blog About Nevis.

Aedes Aegypti Mosquito – Dengue Carrier

Charlestown, Nevis
November 09, 2011

Facilitator of a three-day workshop on Integrated Vector Management in St. Kitts and Nevis Dr. Samuel C. Rawlins PhD, told Public Health Workers from Nevis and St. Kitts, that Dengue Fever was cause for concern to everyone in the Federation, since the moisquito which carried the illness was present in the Tropics including the Caribbean, where tourism was the mainstay of many islands.

His advice came when he delivered remarks at the opening ceremony of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) sponsored Workshop at the Llewelyn Newton Disaster Management’s Conference Room, at Long Point on Monday. He noted that the illness affected every member of the community therefore, it was important to fight the vector which was present in St. Kitts and Nevis.

“I live in Trinidad some of the time and we have already had quite a few deaths due to Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, that is the severe dengue, especially in young children…We live here and wwe have to stay and try to fight it, since most of the industry in Nevis and St. Kitts is geared on the hospitality industry, that is tourism,” he said.

Dr. Rawlins, an emeritus Scientist with the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre and the Pan American Health Organization and a member of the  Joint Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Noble Peace Prize Laureate, 2007, said visitors selected the places they chose to visit where they were confident they would not get ill. Thus, it was vital for the environment in St. Kitts and Nevis to be above board and well known for little or no transmission taking place there.

Notwithstanding, Dr. Rawlins stated that the islands should also be prepared against other vector borne diseases, some of which were imported and known to be present on St. Kitts and Nevis.

“We know there are two potential vectors on the island of Nevis and we understand that there is at least one or two in St. Kitts. So we need to be aware of this.

“I have worked throughout the Caribbean and I have seen in countries like the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas where people are moving around and some of them come from Malaria endemic countries. When they come in they are not going to report to you that I got fever, headache and all the symptoms which are suggestive of Maleria, especially if they come in illegally…As a result they remain as a resevoir in the ccommunity and then the vectors which transmit Malaria come and bite them and then transmit it to the othere people because we have the vectors here,” he said.

During the workshop which concludes on Wednesday, participants would be given the chance to modify and make changes to a Manuel on Integrated Vector Management in the Eastern Caribbean compiled by Dr. Samuel, to meet the specific needs of the Federation.

The Manual which was compiled following a series of consultations on behalf of PAHO and the Ministries of Health of East Caribbean Member States, had already been examined in Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Antigua  ahead of St. Kitts and Nevis and tailored to the needs of each.

“Initially I am going to introduce the manual. We hope that after these discussions we get the new manual we make the modifications and then each person will his or her own copy. We will have copies here for new staff who are coming on for training, so that is going to be important,” he said.

The Manual is made up of seven modules among them Moisquito Vectors and Moisquito-borne Diseases of importance in  the Eastern Caribbean; Integrated Vector Management (Control) Measures and their Application to Dengue Fever Vectors and other Common Vectors in the Eastern Caribbean Countries;Work of Vector Control Operators; Discipline/Work Etiquette and Other Selected Athropods and Resevoirs of Public Health Importance.

Related posts:

1. St. Kitts – Nevis’ Minister Condor Deeply Concerned About Crime
2. Cricket fever is sweeping Saint Kitts – Nevis!
3. De Fever – Nevis Television’s Programme A Success
4. St. Kitts – Nevis Signs Documents To Establish CARPHA
5. More Resistant Malaria Strain In Caribbean

St. Kitts – Nevis PM – Denzil Douglas
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
August 10, 2011 (CUOPM)

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has welcomed Thursday’s meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad between insurance industry and health care professionals to discuss how to create the benefit routinely denied to People Living with HIV (PLHIV) in the Caribbean – heaalth insurance.

“It is another step to remove the stigma meted out to persons living with this disease,” said Dr. Douglas, Chairman of the Caribbean Community and Prime Minister with responsibility for HIV/AIDS.

The insurance and health forum is aimed at building partnerships between the industry and the public health sectors and is being organised by a coalition of business and health figures.

The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), the Insurance Association of the Caribbean (IAC) and the Pan Caribbean Business Coalition (PCBC) have organised the forum, with support from the United States aid agency, USAID.

The forum’s objective is to “build public-private partnerships across the Pan Caribbean Region between the insurance and health sector to enhance access to treatment by people living with HIV (PLHIV) and reduce the stigma discrimination associated with the disease,” according to a USAID statement.

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has applied to the Global Fund on HIV/AIDS to finance a proposed health insurance scheme for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Eastern Caribbean.

USAID said it would help the OECS revise its Global Fund application.

The forum is expected to explore a regional health insurance pool. With tiny populations, the risk pools for Caribbean countries makes health insurance an elusive goal in the Eastern Caribbean, and is non-existent for HIV/AIDS sufferers.

“Over the past few years the concept of regional health insurance has gained increasing visibility in policy discussions among CARICOM members, and the idea was explicitly recommended in the joint PAHO/CARICOM 2006 Report,” USAID said.

With the advent of economic union in the OECS and the CARICOM single market offering job opportunities and increased mobility for Eastern Caribbean, health insurance is becoming more attractive.

Wednesday’s meeting will seek consensus on how to provide insurance products to people living with virus and obtain commitments from the partners for the plan.

Participants to the forum include representatives from the regional Ministries of Health, the private insurance sector and members of the PANCAP network. Pointing to its likely role in the process, USAID stressed that “external support” would be needed to boost health insurance programmes for the poorest and most vulnerable, including people living with HIV/AIDS.

“Activities will include participation in pertinent national and regional discussions and targetted technical assistance to ensure private sector representation in discussions on health insurance,” the American aid agency said.

The Barack Obama administration has been focussing efforts on strengthen heath systems through proving technical assistance in health insurance, including HIV/AIDS benefits either at a national level or as part of a regional health insurance system, USAID said.

Related posts:

1. PM Welcomes Insurance Company of the West Indies
2. NRP Wants Universal Health Insurance For All Nevis Citizens
3. Captive Insurance Companies Act To Be Amended
4. Health Insurance For Nevisians Still On The Cards
5. British American Insurance To Receive US $80 Million

The Marriott Resort – St. Kitts
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
August 07, 2011 (CUOPM)

Plans by the St. Kitts Marriott to build a small but elite hospital within two years in a new beachside building on the Atlantic, with resplendent ocean views and sumptuous resort amenities is making news in the United States.

Loretta McLaughlin, a former editor of the Boston Globe editorial pages and a senior fellow at the Harvard AIDS Initiative, in an article wrote the specialty hospital is part of a growing trend by Americans (and others from economically advanced countries) to combine medical treatment with vacation. In 2008, 1.3 million Americans traveled outside the United States, primarily for elective surgery; the number is expected to triple by 2012.

Americans are going to overseas centers for two good reasons – far lower health costs and high quality of care – not to mention the exceptional personal comfort provided at these centers. Some American health insurers are exploring coverage for their clients for the same reasons.

After all, why should a health insurance company, any more than an individual, pay three times as much for a surgical procedure – to repair a hernia, for example – in a stateside local hospital when it could be done just as well in the Caribbean? And patients could recover with hotel services at their fingertips.

A few health insurers already provide medical tourism coverage, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina and Georgia-based BasicPlus Insurance Services. Some US employers are looking into it with an eye on cutting employee health costs. In January 2008, Hannaford Bros., a supermarket chain based in Maine, began paying the entire bill for employees to travel to Singapore for hip and knee replacements, including travel for the patient and a companion. Some unions, however, have raised issues of legal liability and potential job losses in the US health care industry if hospital treatment is outsourced.

Dr. John Fallon of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts says there has been little demand for it locally, but that Blue Cross is keeping close watch on how well the quality of care in these low-cost overseas centers is measured.

It is chiefly because construction and support services are but a fraction of their comparable costs in the United States that prices for medical tourism can be so low. “Any hospital we undertake has strong quality assurance built in,’’ said Dr. Gregory Ciottone, chief medical officer of the American Hospital Management Company in Washington, which has managed several low-cost overseas centers. They include continuing medical education for the staff and certification by the Joint Commission International, a US-based, nonprofit organization that accredits hospitals and monitors quality standards throughout the world.

In the early years of medical tourism nearly 20 years ago, most Americans who went overseas for medical care were looking for cosmetic surgery. A decade later, the big draw was – and still is – dental implants.

Now the field is wide open. Americans seeking such care include middle-income people who either lack insurance coverage or who would have very high deductibles if they rely on hometown practitioners. They also know they can turn to their primary-care doctors back home if complications develop.

Among the multitude of Americans who have taken advantage of medical tourism is Larry Oehler of Conifer, Colo. In need of three dental implants for which he received an estimated cost of $25,000 to $30,000 locally, he went to a medical tourist center in Costa Rica last year.

He underwent delicate bone grafts and other procedures to support the implants, and had considerably more dental work done than first anticipated – all for a price of $18,000. “The clinic was modern, up-to-date, comfortable, and clean. And I had a highly skilled oral surgeon, who was most reassuring,’’ Oehler said recently.

These hospitals also have a huge side benefit for natives in developing countries. The new specialty centers mean they, too, gain instant access to modern, high-tech medical care under payment programs typically arranged with their governments.

But the growing lure of medical tourism for Americans is the happy prospect of having medical procedures capably carried out at bargain prices – along with a recovery spent basking in a chaise longue at poolside.

Related posts:

1. Date Set For Commissioning Of Pogson Medical Centre
2. St. Kitts – Nevis Approves Medical University – Hospital
3. St. Kitts – Nevis’ PM Tours New Medical Facility
4. Nevis Receives State Of The Art Medical Centre
5. New Services At Pogson Medical Centre