On most days, chicken is what's for dinner in Belizean homes. In fact the Poultry Association estimates it to be a $60 million a year industry. But as we've reported the industry is wary of the Avian Influenza - commonly known as the bird flu. In fact health experts now say it is not a matter of if Belize will be affected, it is a matter of when. And that is the thinking behind a sensitization training held today for Ministry of Health personnel and stakeholders. The Ministry of Health's Dr. Paul Edwards told us more.
Dr. Paul Edwards,
"However through preparedness we are then able to minimize what the consequences will be and that is what we are doing here today. The Ministry of Health in the earlier part of this year we met, we developed our guideless for the various areas; clinical management, surveillance, infection control, lab diagnosis, public health measures, stockpiling, communications, and the psychological response. What we have done today as well is to invite our relevant partners. So that is the first step, whereby there will be a stakeholders meetings for them, they will come together and they will start developing their plan so that the finality is that Belize will have a national plan, not a Ministry of Health and not only a BAHA response but it will be a national plan."
Today's session was the seventh of eight.
