There may be widespread fear about the Zika virus among some 17,000 pregnant women in T&T who may be at risk due to the virus, now in T&T, Opposition MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh said in Parliament yesterday.
Gopeesingh gave the figure as he requested and obtained approval for MPs to debate the Zika issue as a matter of urgent national importance.
The Zika virus is borne by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and is not related to influenza or “flu”, Dr David Bratt clarified yesterday.
T&T’s first Zika case was confirmed on Wednesday. The patient is a 61-year-old Diego Martin woman who had travelled to New Zeland and returned home recently.
Her residential neighbourhood was sprayed by Insect Vector Control Division units yesterday. There have been fears in Brazil and other countries that the virus might be linked to microcephaly (occurrence of abnormally small heads and brains in newborns) and possibly the Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which causes muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. But confirmed links are yet to be proved.
Gopeesingh requested the debate since he noted that Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh had described the issue as a public health emergency matter and that view had been echoed by Prime Minister Keith Rowley at the recent Caricom Inter-Sessional meeting in Belize.
Gopeesingh said the situation required dedicated protocols and was of great public importance due to widespread fear, especially concerning the risk to T&T’s pregnant population.
House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George said she was satisfied the matter qualified for debate as a matter of urgent national importance. She called for all who supported debate on the matter to stand. All Opposition MPs present stood. But the Government MPs all remained seated.
Earlier in the session, Deyalsingh said total statistics from 2015 showed that 3,550 Caesarean sections were done by specialist medical officers (SMO) and consultants at public hospitals and 38 per cent were done by SMOs.
He said no one was happy with the figures and the latter number had risen to 50 per cent under the current administration. He said the report of the Winston Welch team appointed to review regional health authorities would say if consultants have made an impact on the figures. That team reports in April.