Dominican Republic’s Health Minister Víctor Atallah justified on Tuesday, 23 July 2024 the preventive measures the country has taken regarding announcements in Haiti of cases of anthrax.
While Dr. Atallah said that the country has not registered a single case of anthrax in over four decades, he also said that prevention is never too much. He assured the public that the Dominican healthcare system is fully equipped to handle any positive diagnosis that may arise.
“We are protected, we are taken care of. We have all the operational systems in place and we have the full response capacity to ensure that the Dominican people feel at ease. We have the medicines, we have the diagnostic tests to do this,” the official declared.
Regarding comments made by the Dominican Medical Association (CMD) president Waldo Ariel Suero, who suggested that an unnecessary alarm had been created in the country due to suspected anthrax cases in Haitian territory, Dr. Atallah stated that there had been “no cause for alarm, nor are we concerned.”
“I believe that any form of surveillance is not unnecessary, it is important. Moreover, we did not raise an alarm, we informed the relevant departments of the possibility that existed there (in Haiti) of a suspected case,” he explained.
Dr. Atallah also pointed out that the Ministry of Public Health is in constant communication with international organizations based in Haiti, such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Minister’s remarks come amidst heightened awareness following suspected anthrax cases reported in Haiti, prompting the Dominican Republic to activate health security protocols at the border to prevent any potential spread of the disease.
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Diario Libre
DR1 News
DR1 News
24 July 2024