KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Stakeholders have welcomed the Government’s timely decision to leverage the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) research capabilities to boost Jamaica’s integrated vector management programme aimed at curtailing the prevalence of mosquitoes and minimising the onset and re-emergence of diseases such as dengue fever; malaria; the Zika virus; and the Mayaro virus, which was recently detected in Haiti.

The UWI’s engagement is being facilitated through its collaboration with the Ministry of Health, and involves the establishment of a Mosquito Control and Research Unit at the tertiary institution’s Mona Campus in St Andrew, which was launched earlier this year by Portfolio Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton.The Unit, which is the brainchild of Dr Tufton, will coordinate best practices in integrated vector management and research into mosquito control and eradication.Personnel from the Unit will also coordinate work from the resulting collaboration between the Ministry’s Vector Control Unit and the UWI’s research.Other stakeholders that will be incorporated include the UWI’s International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS), Jamaica Red Cross, Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and the National Youth Service (NYS).The Unit is expected to spearhead a pilot project to sterilise mosquitoes, utilising gamma radiation, within a few months.UWI Pro-Vice Chancellor and Mona Campus Principal, Professor Archibald McDonald, says the Unit’s establishment is long overdue, “given recent developments (relating to) mosquito-borne diseases affecting our island”.He argued that following the onset and re-emergence of these diseases, “the benefits of establishing a Unit like this will produce significant rewards in the protection of national and regional health”.“It provides our country with an opportunity to explore the biological, scientific and social issues that lay the foundation for effective mosquito control (and) will benefit our research and scientific expertise in health, vector control and well-being,” the Pro-Vice Chancellor stated.Professor McDonald pointed out that UWI researchers are investigating molecular targets in both vector and viral pathogens for overcoming the insect’s resistance, and are searching for new lead drug molecules that can counter this challenge.“They are also in the process of establishing a programme for the screening of mosquitoes for viruses and parasites, which provides an early warning system before epidemics explode in the human population,” he added.While expressing “profound regret” that the Unit was not established earlier, Professor McDonald, nonetheless, welcomed it “as the University believes that our input (will) play a significant role in managing and controlling mosquito-borne diseases”.“This collaborative venture will allow us to take our work a step further and conduct our research on a national basis in order to be able to establish an effective response programme that protects our citizens from the spread and impact of (mosquito-borne) diseases,” he added.