PRESS RELEASE - As part of the Ministry of Health’s ongoing Multi-Sectoral Sensitization Strategy on St. Lucia’s response to the West African Ebola Virus Outbreak, health officials met with senior personnel from the Ministry of Tourism, St. Lucia Tourist Board and The St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association on Wednesday October 8th.
While addressing the meeting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Ms. Cointha Thomas noted the seriousness and timeliness of the meeting on the heals of reports in international media of a case of Ebola in Dallas, Texas and Madrid, Spain.
Yola St. Jour, Finance and Administration Officer at the SLHTA noted, while issues of occupancy at hotels and border security are important to her members, sensitization is key.
The SLHTA Official stated that the main issue for her members is dissemination of information and education on the Ebola Virus to allay unnecessary panic.
“Dissemination of information about the virus was all discussed at this meeting and I am going to take that back to the association and ensure that all our members are kept in the loop about what to do what not to do just in case this virus does enter the island.”
When asked about the main concerns for the Tourism Industry, Donnavan Williams, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries stated, ” For us it is about ensuring that our borders are secure enough to detect and treat any suspected cases.
I think that came across very clearly that now we have systems in place. There is I think an effective system that will allow us to deal with any matters that do arise.”
The meeting also focused on matters relating to protocols to be used at the various hotel facilities on island in the event of a suspected case of Ebola and sort to explore the state of preparedness and capacity of hotels to handle such cases.
There was agreement on information sharing as well as education and sensitization training on Ebola by the Ministry of Health to the SLHTA and its members. Officer in Charge of Administration at the Ministry of Health, Wellness, Human Services and Gender Relations, Wenn Gabriel stated, ” This issue is not one that requires a Ministry of Health response but a national response.
Ebola is not just an issue of health security but in-fact as we have seen in these countries which have been affected it’s and issue of national security also. Therefore we have met with a number of stakeholders.
We met with the Police, SLASPA, Immigration, Customs and so on.” Mr Gabriel went on to say ” The World is a new territory with respect to Ebola and we too are responding to a threat that we have never encountered before and it is in this view that we are engaging our various stakeholders.”
Ministry of Health Officials pointed out that sensitization meetings will be held with Worker Union representatives from around the island, Officials in the Yachting Sector with particular reference to the upcoming ARC event.
Special focus will be placed on on a meeting with local media in the coming week, who health official consider to be critical in disseminating information which is accurate and scientifically sound to the general public.