The U.S. Consulate General together with Curacao’s Analytic Diagnostic Center (ADC) are working on bringing better health and wellbeing to the children of St. Elisabeth Hospital (SEHOS) by distributing 30 king size mosquito nets for Sehos’ maternity ward, Anna Paviljoen.
On Tuesday, August 15, U.S. Consul General Margaret Hawthorne and Acting ADC Director Liane Virginia-Cova donated the nets to CFO Elvis Thode and staff of the SEHOS. While on Curacao, mosquito bites are mainly an annoyance; some mosquitos may carry serious blood-borne diseases, such as dengue, chikungunya, zika, malaria, and yellow fever. One can use DEET applied to skin and permethrin applied to clothing, but mosquito nets are more effective, since there is no vaccine or medicine for Zika. “The nets will be of good use to the hospital, even in our air-conditioned rooms,” Mr. Thode said.
As part of a regional U.S. Government Zika outreach program, the U.S. Consulate invited four specialists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a September 13-15 visit. These specialists will visit schools, give a presentation for the general public, and a separate presentation for healthcare professionals, medical university students, and Instituto pa Formashon den Enfermeria (IFE) students. Furthermore, the specialists will be available for media interviews. If you are interested in attending the events, please contact the U.S. Consulate General or Civianny Axson at ADC via email (Caxson@adcnv.com) or by phone 434 5100.
CDC is the leading national public health institute of the U.S. Its main goal is to protect public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the U.S. and internationally. The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease control and prevention. It especially focuses its attention on infectious disease, food borne pathogens, environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, injury prevention and educational activities designed to improve the health of U.S. citizens.