Approximately 1,300 new community health aids are being employed by the Government to strengthen the country's public health system under a new strategic framework designed to ensure that the population can live their normal lives despite the presence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
“Within this new strategic framework, the prioritisation of public health and the re-introduction of an “everyone counts” approach to policy must form part of the way in which we must now live and operate,” Dr Tufton said.
This approach is anchored in the International Health Regulation standards for public health systems and will involve the strengthening of systems in eight areas:
“In implementing these plans, the ministry has already received approval from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service for the employment of an approximate additional 1,300 community health aids,” Dr Tufton told legislators.
“In our 'new normal', active field surveillance using methods such as contact tracing, community education and health information, and the monitoring of persons in quarantine and in isolation will be important components of the public health response.
As such, the new normal must recognise that everyone counts – not just as individuals, societies or countries but as an integrated whole that supports the health and well-being of all,” Tufton said.
