No H1N1 in Parliament

Details

Health News

Tuesday, 07 July 2009 16:50

By press release

On Monday, July 6 2009 when the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda convened for its first sitting since March 13th, the Honourable Molwyn Joseph, representative for St. Mary’s North,

sought to introduce a resolution seeking to have the Parliament discuss “a matter of urgent public importance.”

Mr. Joseph asked the Speaker of the House to set aside the other items on the House’s agenda to allow a discussion of the potential harm posed by the H1N1 virus or swine flu that is now a worldwide pandemic.  According to the World Health Organization, 40% of the 77,000 cases of the H1N1 virus (or the swine flu virus) are to be found in the USA, UK and Canada; Antigua and Barbuda’s three major tourism markets.  Two cases of the H1N1 virus have been confirmed in Antigua.

“The Speaker of the House would not allow a discussion of this matter of urgent public importance,” Mr. Joseph noted, “despite the threat, which this pandemic poses to our tourism industry and our public.” The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has not announced any contingency plans to address this urgent state of affairs.  The only indication to the public of actions taken are those announced by several departments of government which reflect an uncoordinated attempt to respond to this grave threat.  There is no evidence of a centralized coordinated approach by this government to deal with the spread or containment of this virus.

Yet, the Speaker of the House would not allow this matter to be discussed. She declared that the matter was not urgent and that she saw no reason to discuss it in the Parliament. The Speaker would not allow the parliamentarians to vote to determine whether or not they were willing to enter into a discussion on this matter, she simply declared that the decision is hers to make and that she has made it.

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“I was very disappointed that the Speaker chose to declare the H1N1 virus and its potential negative impact on Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism and its residents as not urgent,” Mr. Joseph noted. “I had in hand a resolution requiring the Ministry of Health to do the following

1. To direct the Ministry of Health to publish A Plan of Action to Combat The H1N1 Virus During the Month-Long 2009 Carnival Season;

2. To begin a program of public education that will reach all adults and youth in the state prior to, during and following the 2009 Carnival season;

3. To intensify and expand the public education program so that it reaches visitors and other strangers who will be among us during the 2009 Carnival season;

4.  To contain and eliminate the threat to our security and well-being caused by the H1N1 virus by urging all persons to engage in protective and defensive actions that will reduce the probability of spreading the deadly virus, especially  to vulnerable persons, during and following the 2009 Carnival season.     


Mr. Joseph further stated “I deeply regret the decision of the speaker to turn down the opportunity to engage all the elected parliamentarians in the effort of developing the most effective response to a threat, that is of such grave consequences, to our resident population and to our visitors.  Sadly we have already heard of one death in the Caribbean associated with the H1N1 virus and I wonder if it is going to take another death or other casualties to propel the authorities into action.  The people of Antigua and Barbuda deserve better and our visitors also deserve the best of our efforts”.

The Speaker asked the Honourable Molwyn Joseph to await the next sitting of parliament, not constitutionally due until October 5 2009, when the issue might be revisited.

 

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