safety steps

The Central Board of Health joined the other Caribbean Islands in the celebration of Mosquito Awareness Week 2024, which runs from May 13th to 17th with the theme “Small Bite Big Threat, and the slogan ‘Stop Disease Transmission, Start Source Reduction’!

The initiative for this year is to empower communities to identify and eliminate mosquito breeding sites from public and private spaces. To do so, the staff at Central Board of Health created a typical yard in the parking lot at the Vector Control Unit.

The yard comprises of a structure resembling a house, with one side of the yard displaying numerous water catchments that are exposed and can become mosquito breeding sites, and the other side of the yard portrays corrective measures to eliminate mosquito breeding sites.

For the entire week private schools across the island will visit the yard where students and teachers will have the opportunity to be a part of a practical session to learn about the different mosquito habitats, and ways to eliminate them.

At the end of the event, it is with hope that the children would share what they would have learnt with their parents, and would help them to eliminate mosquito breeding sites at their respective homes on a continuous basis, which will in turn reduce the mosquito population.

Mosquito Awareness Week could not have been possible without sponsors. Thanks to North Coast Hardware for delivering the wooden structure being used as a house.

Shoul’s Chief Store was gracious to sponsor two black water tanks that will be used to demonstrate how to protect that particular water catchment from being a breeding site.

Thank you to the Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board for providing transportation service to and from the schools, thanks to the principals of the private schools for accepting our invitation, and special thanks to the staff at the Central Board of Health; Vector Control Unit for organising the event and educating the students to raise awareness. Let us all work together to fight the bites!