Dawes presses Gov’t on testing capacity, clean-up failures amid rising disease risks
Published:Wednesday | November 26, 2025 | 12:11 AMKaren Madden/Gleaner Writer
Opposition Spokesman on Health Dr Alfred Dawes is warning that Jamaica could “pay with lives” if it fails to prepare for a major public-health crisis following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa on October 28.
With the United Nations Development Programme estimating that the Category 5 storm left nearly five million tonnes of debris, the country is now battling a leptospirosis outbreak that has already claimed lives.
Speaking at a post-Melissa press conference on Tuesday, Dawes commended the Ministry of Health for its current efforts but stressed that the scale of the threat requires a far more comprehensive response.
“It is a multi-disciplinary, multifaceted approach that is needed to stave off the impending crisis,” Dawes said. “We are already in the midst of a leptospirosis outbreak, and we could have seen this coming. We ought to focus not only on trying to send out information to say you should avoid streams and water, avoid rodents. We ought to look on how we can address the environmental factors that caused this outbreak. Garbage collection is an issue. It is piling up, not just out west but right across the island.”
Last week, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness announced that Jamaica has requested international assistance, including support from China, to help clear the massive accumulation of hurricane debris.
But Dawes argued that debris removal is only part of the challenge. Flooding and rising water levels, he said, are creating dangerous conditions in several communities.
“There is a stench of dead animals, and you cannot simply say to people, ‘avoid contaminated water’, when that is the only water that they have available,” he said. “So we have to look at the clean-up, we have to look at the access. And it is this multimodal approach that we are going to have, in tandem with the work of the Ministry of Health, that is going to stave off a worsening of the leptospirosis outbreak as well as try to mitigate, if not completely avoid, the threat of dengue and Chik-V.”
Leptospirosis, spread through the urine of infected animals, becomes more prevalent after hurricanes and flooding when people come into contact with contaminated water or soil. Dengue fever and Chikungunya (Chik V) are transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and can cause high fever, rash, joint pain, and other complications.
Dawes, who is a physician, also wants improvement in how leptospirosis is managed, interrogating, among other things, whether enough suspected cases are being tested for confirmation.
“When we speak about leptospirosis being an issue, it is a disease that is largely mild, but when it gets bad, it gets bad, and it can lead to death because of liver failure, bleeding out, renal failure, and, therefore, early diagnosis and treatment is essential,” he noted.
“I am questioning the capacity of the Ministry of Health to adequately confirm cases of leptospirosis. Do we have the capacity locally to test for leptospirosis? What thoughts are being given to deploying rapid kits into affected areas where we can test for the antibodies that are elevated when you have an acute infection?”
He said the Government should not rule out evacuating residents in inundated areas that are prime for disease outbreaks.
He further suggested that the Government consider asking countries such as Cuba for help in anticipating and managing outbreaks, claiming that they have the experience and mechanism to cope with diseases.