- Belize advises on increased cases of COVID-19 and respiratory illnesses
- The ministry also notes an increase in influenza (flu) cases
- Dominican Republic receives cold chain equipment
- PAHO donates vaccine carriers to St Lucia
- Latin America and the Caribbean to receive grants to support the elimination of communicable diseases
By Caribbean News Global 
LATIN AMERICA / CARIBBEAN – For more than 40 years, PAHO’s Revolving Fund for access to vaccines, has provided access to safe and quality vaccines at affordable prices for Member States and Territories throughout the region. It is part of Immunization’s larger technical cooperation package that supports countries’ efforts to achieve sustainable and equitable reduction of morbidity and mortality of vaccine-preventable diseases through control and elimination strategies.
“By consolidating forecasted demand requirements and leveraging economies of scale, promoting transparent negotiations with suppliers, and implementing innovative acquisition strategies, the Revolving Fund, greatly improves its purchasing power; lowering vaccine prices and contributing to the sustainability of National Immunization Programs,” PAHO said.
Belize advises on increased cases of COVID-19 and respiratory illnesses
On December 30, 2022, the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) informed the public that over the past two weeks there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases, from 69 cases reported over seven days in the first week of December 2022 to 271 cases reported between December 19 and 27.
“The current projections from the Epidemiology Unit at the ministry show a rise in cases into the new year, with a peak by mid-January. The ministry also notes an increase in influenza (flu) cases that cause similar symptoms to COVID-19.”
Currently, China is experiencing a significant increase in COVID-19 infections, with up to 32,000 cases per day and an average of 93 deaths per day, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. It is known that when a virus is circulating as fast and as widely as this is, there is a concern for mutations of the virus.
In Belize, the majority of the cases being reported are in the Belize District; however, there are increases in the other districts. Although the number of hospitalized cases has not overloaded the health system, there is always the possibility of this happening if public health measures are not being followed.
“The ministry reminds the public that it is influenza season. One of the most effective ways to prevent the flu or a severe outcome of it is through vaccination. MOHW encourages taking the COVID-19 booster or vaccination if you have not yet done so,” said the press release.
PAHO donates vaccine carriers to St Lucia
The Pan American Health Organization, on December 21, donated 80 vaccine carriers to the ministry of health, wellness and elderly affairs valued at over EC$3,500.
“These vaccine carriers will strengthen the cold chain program to ensure that needed vaccines are accessible and delivered to hard-to-reach areas in the country. This initiative is part of ongoing technical cooperation to reduce the spread of vaccine preventable diseases,” said the ministry of health in a press release.
Country program specialist for PAHO, Reynold Hewitt, said the organization is pleased to donate to Saint Lucia’s ministry of health. The donation will assist in the immunization programme.
“PAHO sees immunization as the flagship programme of the organization, and makes every effort to ensure that every member state has the capacity to always respond, in order to prevent outbreaks of diseases that can be treated by vaccines.”
Institutions from Latin America and the Caribbean to receive grants to support the elimination of communicable diseases
Meanwhile, PAHO/WHO announced that six institutions from Argentina, Brazil, Haiti, México and Perú will receive research grants for topics related to Tuberculosis and other opportunistic infections in advanced HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and Human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV-1), which may cause a type of cancer.
These grants of around $30,000 are provided as part of the “Operational research to support the elimination of communicable diseases in the Latin American and Caribbean region” initiative, of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and TDR (the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases of UNICEF, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO)).
“Operations research is key to generate evidence and information that allows progress towards the elimination of diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Dr Massimo Ghidinelli, interim director of communicable diseases and environmental determinants of health at PAHO. “Grants for these investigations will expand our knowledge and strengthen public health response,” he said.
“We are very pleased to see these very promising projects being identified. We are confident that working with PAHO and the grantees we will have results from this work to support the elimination initiative in the Latin America and Caribbean region”, said Dr Garry Aslanyan, manager of partnerships and governance at TDR.
Around 2.5 million people live with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is estimated that, in the region, 291,000 people contracted tuberculosis in 2020, 10 percent of whom were living with HIV. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which are easily curable, affect approximately 38 million people between the ages of 15 and 49 in the region, according to the latest WHO estimates.
Meanwhile, it is estimated that between 5 and 10 million people are infected with HTLV-1 worldwide.
