ST JAMES, Jamaica – Residents of Paradise Norwood have been commended by the St James Public Health Department for their proactive efforts in achieving a below five per cent Aedes aegypti index.

The reduction, from a 17 per cent index, followed a late December community intervention by the health team.

“Over the years, the department has been grappling with a high aedes index… so we commend Norwood for their improvement,” said Acting Chief Public Health Inspector for the parish, Sherika Lewis.

She was addressing the monthly meeting of the St. James Municipal Corporation in Montego Bay on Thursday.

She noted that the health department continues to work assiduously to reduce the parish’s overall aedes index, which was recorded at seven per cent in December. Persons have been engaged under the temporary worker programme to enable more community visits.

For the month of December, the department visited more than 19,000 premises, 73 per cent of which were positive for mosquito breeding.

“A total of 63,000 containers were inspected and 2,700 were breeding mosquitoes,” Lewis noted.

She said the efforts of the health team and community members have not gone unnoticed, as the reduction of the parish’s dengue fever cases represents their diligence.

“The team is doing good work, the residents are receptive, we are hoping continued collaboration will take place, and we will see the end of the outbreak in short order,” she expressed.

Meanwhile, the acting chief public health inspector informed that the health department will be visiting additional communities and establishments throughout the month of January to complete fogging.

These areas are Brandon Hill, Johns Hall, Sunderland, Barrett Town, Lilliput, Long Bay, Catherine Hall, Westgreen, Goodwill, Mount Carey, Canterbury, among others.

– JIS