The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is engaged in the rollout of the regionally approved Integrated Public Health Surveillance Strategy across its Members States.
Under one of the priority areas for this strategy, CARPHA is seeking to build capacity in Vector Borne Disease surveillance. CARPHA has partnered with the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment in Antigua and Barbuda to further build capacity in the control of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases using exciting new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology.
Vector control staff were trained in using an electronic tablet-based GIS system to do premise inspections. This will replace the older, outdated paper-based inspection forms and modernize the operations of the vector control unit. This field-based GIS is coupled with desktop GIS systems to do advanced spatio-temporal analyses for health trends.
The overall objective of the training is to improve the Ministry’s ability to detect, target and respond to areas with high levels of mosquito infestation and thereby significantly reduce the risk of arboviral disease outbreaks (e.g., Dengue) in Antigua and Barbuda.
It is expected that implementation of these new technologies will greatly enhance the Integrated Vector Management (IVM) Strategy for the country and provide better real-time, evidence-based, targeted vector control operations.
This GIS training was facilitated by Mr. Rajesh Ragoo, Senior Technical Officer, Vector Borne Diseases Unit and Ms. Jenna Indarsingh, CariVecNet Coordinator, CARPHA. Funding for this training is provided in part through the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Zika and Other Mosquito Borne Diseases Project.