SIX officers from the Ministry of Health have graduated from the Caribbean Field Epidemiology Laboratory Training Programme (CR-FELTP).
This is the second batch of participants from Saint Lucia to successfully complete this regional training programme. The CR-FELTP was borne out of the recognition by Public Health Officials in the region of the need to increase the number of trained persons who can respond to emerging diseases such as Chikungunya, Pertussis and Zika.
Local Coordinator for the Caribbean Field Epidemiology Laboratory Training Programme, Dr. Michelle Francois, explained that the programme which ran for four months entailed real-life, on the job training combined with lectures on various topics.
Dr. Francois pointed out that participants have been trained to conduct outbreak investigations on the field, gather and present information to determine the source of an outbreak.
“They now are our groundsmen. We can use them on the ground; they are extensions of the Ministry now. The aim now is to get these and others trained involved and following up with cases.”
District Medical Officer, Dr. Oliver Austin, one of the participants of the CR-FELTP had nothing but praise for the programme.
“This programme is very valuable in that it gives us the opportunity to expand the epidemiological scope of what already exists in St. Lucia. Working directly in communities in gives me an opportunity in an outbreak situation to get on-board very quickly, identify the causative organism that is responsible for the outbreak or whatever situation that exists and really try to mitigate or prevent such an outbreak. So it’s very valuable not just to the community where I work but to the island as a whole and to the Caribbean.”