Incorrect data on vector diseases could hinder tourism - PAHO expert Travel advisories cited By Miranda La Rose Stabroek News May 29, 2000 Guyana has not recorded a case of yellow fever for 40 years but the government has to dispel misconceptions that vector borne diseases are endemic, as claimed in travel advisories, Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) adviser, Harry Philippeaux says. He recommended to the government and to the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the development of a health and safety plan for eco-tourism which would be incorporated in the country's tourism development plan. Most of the eco-resorts are located in the rural areas where vectors may be found. Responding to a question about a travel advisory cautioning journalists about vector borne diseases in Guyana prior to the start of the just-concluded fourth CTO Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development held in Georgetown, Philippeaux said that Guyana needed "to do more work in health and safety to ensure that there is nothing to destroy this marvellous destination." According to a New York-based photo-journalist, Clive Jones, many journalists who obtained the advisory prior to the conference did not travel to Guyana. The photo-journalist said that the advisory "took away a lot of my colleagues, who are accustomed to coming to Georgetown and the Caribbean. I have not seen them here." They were advised about the possibilities of contracting malaria and yellow fever. He said that journalists never had this problem before. Philippeaux, an expert on environmental health, said that there had been cases of yellow fever in Venezuela in recent times and as a precaution visitors to Guyana and Suriname were advised to be immunised against the disease. Investigation of the disease by PAHO/WHO has shown that "there has not been a case of yellow fever in Guyana for the last 40 years." Indeed yellow fever has been eliminated in the western world but visitors travelling south may be advised because of a few recently reported cases in Venezuela, the PAHO/WHO official said. Cases of yellow fever on the border in Venezuela was the only reason there was emphasis on immunisation, he said noting that the vector existed in Guyana and there was the possibility that the disease could be transmitted here. On the issue of malaria which is also a vector borne disease, Philippeaux said that prophylactic treatment was recommended. While journalists were cautioned about hepatitis A, Philippeaux said, there was no recorded case of the disease in the Caribbean. However, he added, there were cases in countries north of the Caribbean. The Caribbean Epidemiological Centre (CAREC), he said was doing a good job to dispel this misconception. CTO Secretary-General Jean Holder said health authorities in the region had a policy document indicating where there might be some threat. The health authorities also have policies which state what immunisation visitors require to visit various countries. He said that the CTO would not publicise information about health requirements of a country as those would have to come from within that country. "We [the CTO] would prefer to convey information about the size of the problem." However, if there was a problem it would be wise to disclose it, he said noting that if it turned out that someone's health was jeopardised the tour operator would be in a lot of trouble. Holder said that under existing international regulations legal action could be taken against tour operators who persuaded anyone to enter a country and jeopardised the visitor's health and safety. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today