Some of those in attendance at the Risk Communications Training Session held for stakeholders in the health care sector yesterday at the Diabetes Foundation of Barbados, Warrens.
Develop a risk communications health emergency plan as this will help you to deal with any healthcrisis should it occur in the future.
This is the advice that the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) Consultant on Risk Communication and Health Promotion, Dr. Ljubica Latinovic stated that she would send out to the Ministry of Health.
Speaking to the media during the break of the Risk Communications Training Session held for stakeholders in the health care sector yesterday at the Diabetes Foundation of Barbados, Warrens, she stated that this plan would lay out step by step what actions would need to be taken in the event of a major crisis.
“To really be prepared, we are trying to facilitate this part of the planning. We need to plan for any kind of emergency that will promote the country – something that is called (a) multi-hazard risk communication plan so that you are prepared at least with the guidelines [with what] to do from the first moment even to the time of risk. It is a preparation phase, so in the preparation phrase – what do we do when the emergency starts? What do we do when the crisis starts? So that maybe is something that we should look forward [to] and my recommendation to the country would be definitely the risk communication health emergency plan.”
Speaking in light of the public crisis that has occurred as a result of the ongoing sewage problem and the resulting health issues on the South Coast, Dr. Latinovic stated that she would prefer not to grade the way that the matter was handled when asked by one of the members of the media. However, what she did want to state was that there were positive things that they did and areas they could have handled better, and this was why she was here to help them with the matter so that in the future, they would be in a
better position to handle any crisis.
“I would prefer not to grade it. There are good things and there are things that could be better and need some improvement, but that is why we are here, you know, to help and to build capacity and we are actually thinking that one of the good things that Barbados’ Ministry of Health did is actually ask the WHO and PAHO – the regional office – to help them improve this skill because that is what they needed and maybe it was not, you know, so timely and so good at this moment, but I think that it is one of the things that we need to appreciate as they immediately asked for our help because they identified that maybe something is lacking,” she said.