Health goals not met

THE QUANTITY of garbage being generated by Caribbean countries has increased nearly five times in the last five years, according to a regional environment official. Herold Gopaul, information services director of the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute, said that per capita generation of garbage increased from 2.5 pounds per person in 1996 to 12 pounds.

This dashes one of the goals set under the Caribbean Co-operation in Health (CCH 2), in which CARICOM governments mandated that solid waste should be reduced by 10 per cent in 80 per cent of member states between 1999 and 2003. Gopaul said this was one of a number of goals set under CCH 2 that will not be met by the time the plan is reviewed in 2003. He said it would take much more financial resources and commitment at the "highest possible levels" to get various government departments to work together to achieve the environmental health goals of CCH 2. He also said there was a need to move away from departmental planning towards integrated planning in order to make significant inroads in the area of environmental health.

Gopaul said that between the end of CCH 1 in 1998 and CCH 2, which is still in effect until 2003, some countries had made significant strides and others were lagging due to a lack of resources. For example, he said that one goal was a 50 per cent reduction of the 1998
number of homes and containers found breeding the Aedes aegypti mosquito by 2003, but Gopaul said this target would not be met.
Neither would there be a 75 per cent reduction in the outbreak of food and waterborne disease between the 1999 level by 2003. Gopaul also said that the targets for access to clean and safe water and clean bathing (sea) waters will not be met because none of the countries has developed standards and, without standards, especially for near-shore bathing waters on which tourism was dependent, countries would be putting their tourism industries at a disadvantage. Goals to ensure that 85 per cent of rural populations and 95 per cent of urban populations have sanitary facilities would not be met because of a lack of money. Gopaul said that an integrated approach could help to meet targets by having related government departments work together, eliminating duplication and
maximising on resources.