Salud On Verge Of
Declaring Emergency in
Limón; Cancels "Carnavales"
The Ministerio de Salud
(health ministry) is on
the verge of declaring a
medical emergency Limón
due to the high number
of cases of Dengue that
it has failed to keep
under control.
The first victim of the
impending declaration is
the "carnavales", which
normally take place in
October.
That is the word of the
ministra de Salud, María
Luisa Ávila Agüero, who
has issued a directive
to the Dirección
Regional in Limón not
issue authorization for
the annual event.
"The continuing Dengue
situation cannot permit
'carnavales' to be
realized. The
Municipalidad de Limón
has lost the capacity to
collect the solid waste
and the reason that we
may have to declare a
state of emergency, as
the cases of Dengue
continue to increase,
especially in
hemorrhagic dengue,
which concerns us", said
Ávila.
The health minister
pointed out that more
than 50% of all dengue
cases are in the
province of Limón and
the reason behind the
health ministry having
to take drastic
measures.
Yesterday, a commission
made up of officials
from the Caja
Costarricense de Seguro
Social (CCSS), the
Ministerio de Salud,
Casa Presidencial, the
Ministerio de
Coordinación
Interinstitucional and
the Comisión Nacional de
Emergencias (CNE), met
to elaborate a
contingency plan against
the dengue.
"Given the situation,
imagine what it would be
like if we authorized
the carnival, which will
have a lot of people
generating trash and to
that end, fertile for
the breeding grounds of
mosquitoes and will
increase the number of
dengue cases", said the
health minister, who
added that she already
has sent a letter to the
municipality not to
authorize the "carnavales".
The health minister
added that the only way
the "carnavales" can
take place this year is
if the another location,
another town or
province, is authorized
by her health officials.
So far this year there
have been 12.500 cases
of dengue reported, of
which 150 are
hemorrhagic. |
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