RTC Director

Venezuela government accused of Zika virus cover-up

Venezuelan opposition legislator José Manuel Olivares has added his voice to claims that the country has under-reported hundreds of thousands of cases of the Zika virus currently sweeping the region.
Olivares assertion joins similar concerns shared by everyone from members of the local medical fraternity to the health minister of neighbouring Colombia.

“I hope that President Nicolas Maduro will not continue putting policy and ideology before the health and life of Venezuelans,” said Olivares, who also claims that the socialist country lacks the necessary supplies to effectively combat the outbreak.

Olivares, chair of the subcommittee on health in Venezuela’s National Assembly, estimates that between 400,000 and 500,000 Venezuelans have contracted the Zika virus.
He recently visited Washington to appeal for aid from the World Health Organization (WHO).
“What we did was provide continuity to the declaration of the humanitarian health crisis that the Venezuelan Parliament made,” he told Infobae.

“This declaration seeks to solve the health crisis in the country, marking a roadmap to seek solutions to the deep crisis of health, lack of medicines, increases in the levels of maternal mortality, cancer mortality, and child mortality.”

Last month, Venezuela’s Pharmaceutical Federation declared a “humanitarian emergency,” announcing that 150 drugs were completely unavailable nationwide.
Some pharmacies had even resorted to selling veterinary medications to people as a last resort, they said.
On February 12, the government confirmed three deaths related to Zika while also noting an increase in the rare Guillain-Barré syndrome.

President Maduro said officials only confirmed 319 cases of Zika, but doctors have monitored 5,221 suspected cases since February 8. At that time, doctors documented 21 deaths related to the syndrome.
“In its first statement about Zika, the government says it has only 3,000 suspected cases and acknowledges 255 cases of the Guillain-Barré syndrome,” he said.

“When one reviews the literature, you realize that one in 1,000 to 2,000 cases of Zika developed the syndrome. That is the statistic.
“This means the numbers don’t add up. This is a big lie from the government because if you have 255 Guillain-Barré cases you cannot have 3,000 suspected cases of Zika. You have to have at least 250,000…
“From November to the first week of February there were almost 360,000 cases of fever. We do not know why. They are extras and different from those expected these months. We maintain that there are 400,000 to 500,000 cases of Zika in Venezuela.”

His statements echoed concerns expressed by Colombian Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria, who claimed that Venezuela has hidden hundreds of thousands of Zika cases, which could cause major problems for the other South and Central American countries fighting the disease.

Gaviria insists the socialist country is the weakest link in the fight because officials have “no systematic reporting of the data.” The lack of data worries Colombian officials because the countries share borders.
The Norte de Santandar province of Colombia, which shares a border with Venezuela, has the highest number of Zika cases in Colombia. It also has the largest amount of pregnant women with the virus.
“This is a serious problem,” Gaviria said.

In Venezuela, the local medical community has demanded that officials publish all statistics on the Zika virus. The publication of epidemic lists ceased last year.
“The Ministry of Health must be the first to issue warnings about the existence of a public health threat; they cannot be the last one to speak,” said Jose Oletta, former health minister who now works with the Network to Defend National Epidemiology.

“We already have a weakened health care system, which tends to make these problems spread more rapidly. Add to that the lack of information and it’s a perfect storm.”

Meanwhile, the Venezuelan Society of Public Health claimed surveys from non-governmental organizations discovered “a rise of acute fever in the past six months that could correspond to 400,000 cases of Zika.”
China recently confirmed its first Zika case after a 34-year-old man returned from Venezuela.

by RTC Director

Abu Bakr’s son to take legal action against Trinidad police

Fuad Abu Bakr, son of Muslim leader Yasin Abu Bakr, says he plans to take legal action against the Trinidad and Tobago and Police Service after being wrongfully detained for seven hours on Wednesday.

Bakr, who is political leader of the New National Vision (NNV) party, was taken into custody on suspicion of being in possession of a stolen vehicle. He was released without charge, when it was discovered that he was in fact driving his own vehicle.

But he does not intend to let the matter end there, noting that it’s the first time that he has ever been arrested and calling it a very embarrassing situation.

Bakr told the media that he and his wife were travelling in the car on the way home around 5:30 p.m. when police pulled over the Nissan Navara pickup he was driving. He said he was asked to step out of the vehicle and both he and his wife were taken to the police station.

by RTC Director

CDB Urges Regional Governments to DECIDE

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has pointed to an urgent need for broad policy initiatives, including labour market reform and investment in developing the skills of potential workers to move regional economies forward.

In a presentation at the Bank's Annual Review and Forecast titled, 'Time to D.E.C.I.D.E,' Director of Economics, Dr. Justin Ram said governments must aim to become Dynamic, Export-oriented, Competitive, Inclusive, Diverse and Environmentally-resilient economies. This would require, he said, private sector-led growth, an educated and flexible labour force, and better regional integration, with governments acting as business facilitator and efficient regulator.

"We need a strategy that will allow us to take advantage of technological innovation to identify and encourage higher productivity activity. At the same time, we need to improve the investment climate, making it easier for the private sector to thrive," Dr. Ram added.

Against the background of continuing high unemployment in many countries, he cited the imperatives of labour market reforms to include greater flexibility, freedom of movement, participation, and productivity. In relation to the development of human capital, he said there must also be investment in quality education for all, with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
With respect to specific policy actions, Dr. Ram said regional governments must place greater emphasis on fiscal consolidation by increasing the efficiency of revenue collection and expenditure, and prioritising capital investment, among other measures.

Other areas identified for reform were the energy and financial sectors.
"Although we currently have low fuel prices, we still need energy reform that provides the regulatory environment to increase the use of renewable energy in energy mix, as well as energy efficiency," said Dr. Ram.
Financial policy should be further adjusted to encourage greater access to affordable credit by micro, small and medium size enterprises. He also identified the need to maximise regional integration and take advantage of free trade agreements such as the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union, as well as to seek new agreements.

Regional transport and logistics also need to be addressed by increasing efficiency of movement of people and goods across the region.

According to Dr. Ram, physical and social infrastructure should not be ignored. CDB is proposing that governments mandate building and infrastructure codes to improve resilience and that measures are implemented to minimise the spread of new diseases.
There should also be a push to improve the level of national savings to support investment and fiscal buffers to take Caribbean economies to a higher level, Dr. Ram said.

by RTC Director