With a bill introduced at the last House of Assembly sitting, officials hope to bring the Virgin Islands in line with standards for reporting infectious diseases laid out by the World Health Organisation.
The current draft of the bill, published in government’s Gazette Feb. 28, calls for centralising the responsibility for keeping track of infectious diseases under one “focal point” under the Ministry of Health: the chief medical officer.
The bill requires every health practitioner, including dentists, nurses, pharmacists and anyone else registered under the Medical Act of 2000, to report certain infectious diseases to the CMO within 24 hours.
If the CMO suspects that “there is a risk of significant harm to public health,” he or she can order a person suspected of carrying an infectious disease covered in the law to be tested and receive treatment.
See the March 7, 2013 edition for full coverage.
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