Minister of Health Jerome Walcott.

by DONNA SEALY

THE STADIA ARE going up in the host countries for Cricket World Cup 2007, but there are still a number of health concerns to be addressed.

Minister of Health Jerome Walcott said yesterday that while some countries had taken care of "certain responsibilities" that had been mandated by tournament organisers, including the provision of emergency health care generally and within the various stadia for VIPs and players, some other issues were still to be addressed.

He named infectious diseases and their surveillance, adequate emergency facilities, port health and liquid and solid waste disposal, the threat of avian influenza, which might reach the North American mainland later this year, and insurance coverage for volunteers as some of the issues.

"You have a number of persons who'll be coming into the country and there is the possibility that you will have an outbreak of an infectious disease or you could have diseases coming into the region which are not necessarily endemic to this region.

"[With] things like cholera, typhoid fever, yellow fever . . . malaria, you have to be mindful to have proper surveillance in place.

"CAREC [Caribbean Epidemiology Centre] has been working with some of the countries to develop a programme in terms of strengthening the laboratories to be able to identify infectious diseases which . . . are not necessarily endemic to this region.

"That had to be addressed. It has financial implications and it will require member countries to contribute approximately $100 000 to the process of strengthening in that regard," Walcott told the media yesterday after addressing a workshop on a healthy snacking programme at United Nations House, Marine Gardens, Christ Church.

The minister, who is chairman of the committee of ministers of health and other health officials, addressed a prime ministers' sub-committee on cricket last week in Grenada, where he said he raised the issues.

Upgrade facilities

There is a need for various countries to have "proper and upgraded emergency facilities", he stressed.

"A number of the countries had said this initially but we thought this was not happening quickly enough," he said. "In terms of the training of paramedics and the provisions of ambulances, some countries were lagging in this respect."

He added that while the larger countries – Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and Guyana – seemed to be moving ahead, there seemed to be deficiencies in the health sectors in Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) countries.

"For example, in St Lucia and St Kitts, which are quite advanced in terms of their stadia and the preparedness of the stadia, now you realise that in terms of the provision of emergency health care, that they now have to do overlay and incorporate health facilities in some of those completed stands that they've overlooked in terms of emergency centres for spectators. They've made provisions for the players and VIPs . . .," he said.

He added that in terms of mass casualties, the OECS countries needed to establish memoranda of understanding with Barbados, Martinique and Guadeloupe to assist them if a tragedy occurred.

Barbados has made provisions for a mass casualty facility.