{"id":8023,"date":"2020-06-12T19:46:13","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T23:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/?p=8023"},"modified":"2020-06-12T19:54:44","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T23:54:44","slug":"public-health-act-press-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/public-health-act-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Health Act by the Chief Environmental Health Officer"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Press Release Public Health Act\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe title=\"Public Health Act Press Releases\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Sv6qhUV6oVk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Public Health Act came into enforcement in 1975 and thereafter the following regulations were enacted under this act;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Nuisances S.I. 10\/1978\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Offensive Trades S.I. 11\/1978\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Communicable and Notifiable Diseases S.I. 12\/1978, Amended by S.I. 21\/1991\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Barber S.I. 13\/1978\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Water Quality Control S.I. 14\/1978\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Apartments Guest Houses &amp; Hotels S.I. 15\/1978, Amended by S.I. 26\/1983\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Swimming Pools S.I. 16\/1978, Amended by S.I. 27\/1983\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Notification of Births S.I. 17\/1978\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Bakeries S.I. 18\/1978, Amended by S.I. 25\/1983.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Transportation of Human Remains S.I. 19\/1978\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Barracks and Tenements S.I. 20\/1978\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Disposal of Offensive Matter S.I. 21\/1978\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Sewage and Disposal of Sewage and Liquid Industrial Waste Works S.I. 22\/1978\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Slaughterhouse S.I. 69\/1980\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Foods S.I. 70\/1980, Amended by S.I. 28\/1983\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given this changing environment and increased demands, the Ministry of Health and Wellness has been actively perusing the amendment of both the Public Health Act and the Regulations over the past 10 to 15 years. During that period there were extensive consultation with a wide cross sector of society and major stakeholders which guided the preparation of the final document. These efforts were finally realized in July, 2019 when the Public Health Act was amended and made provisions that include but not limited to the following areas;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Beauty and Wellness Center\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Spa\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Massage Parlour\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Body Art Facility\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Prohibiting or restricting the smoke from tobacco or tobacco products in public places.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In February, 2020, amendments to all the regulations outlined above were enacted. The revised legislation made provision for greater enforcement capability for key public health issues that are relevant and current in the development of the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under ideal conditions, regulations should be reviewed and amended as least every ten (10) years to ensure they are relevant to a changing environment and they allow for adequate enforcement. However, neither the Public Health Act nor enabling regulations have had any substantial review and amendment over the past forty (40) plus years. During this extended period, there have been extensive changes to the developmental\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">landscape of Saint Lucia resulting in major environmental impacts that adversely affects the health and well-being of the population. Also Saint Lucia has signed to a number of international treaties including the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005), The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) etc., The emergence of new infectious diseases over the years such as H1N1 and Ebola has placed increased burden in ensuring management measures are in place to control the spread of these diseases. Further, the demands being placed on the Ministry of Health, continue to amass and there is high expectation by the public that there will be adequate response and resolution to their needs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With regard to the Nuisance and Offensive and Hazardous Trade Regulations, the Environmental Health Division have registered approximately Two Thousand and forty- Five (2045) public health complaints over the past five years. The nature of the majority of complaints lodged by the public have to do with the following;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u27a2 Odour Nuisance \u27a2 Waste Water Disposal \u27a2 Solid Waste Disposal \u27a2 Air Pollution \u27a2 Vector (Mosquito, rodent) Nuisance \u27a2 Animal Rearing (pig pens, chicken coops) \u27a2 Dog Kennels \u27a2 Over Hanging Tree\/vegetation \u27a2 Charcoal Pit \u27a2 Mould growth \u27a2 Occupational Health and Safety \u27a2 Bed Bug Infestation \u27a2 Noise pollution \u27a2 Defective Septic Tank \u27a2 Food Handling \u27a2 Derelict Vehicles \u27a2 Smoke pollution \u27a2 Excreta Disposal (defective septic tank, pit toilet) \u27a2 Dead Animal\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There has also been a significant increase in the number of trades which are categorized as offensive trades under the Public Health Act. The amendments are meant to address public health impacts of such trades in residential and highly populated areas. The public health impacts from many of these said trades continue to create nuisances that adversely impact the health of citizens including vulnerable individuals with pre-existing medical conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, the regulation seeks to create a balance where such trades can be carried out in a manner that will minimize the impact on public health taking into consideration\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that there is no clear cut land zoning as most areas contain mixed use land development in St. Lucia. The spraying of vehicles, animal rearing, charcoal making for example in residential areas where the operators do not have adequate facilities to contain the hazards emanating from their operations continues to adversely affect the health of residence in these areas. This has resulted in the Ministry of Health being inundated with complaints.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is noteworthy that these activities have not only been the subject of many public complaints they have also proven to be extremely difficult to regulate and resolve. Therefore, the amendment has brought these activities under a legislative framework and allow for greater capability to enforce thereby reducing the health impacts to employees, and persons living in close proximity to these operations. It is clearly stated in the Offensive Trade Regulations of 1978 Section 3 that:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(1) A person shall not establish an offensive trade without first making application to\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Public Health Board.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(2) An application shall be in writing, stating\u2014\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(i) the name and address of the person responsible for carrying on the\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">offensive trade; (ii) the nature of such trade; and (iii) the address of the proposed premises.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(3) The Public Board of Health, before issuing a licence shall cause the premises to\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">be examined.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, the amended Offensive and Hazardous Trade Regulations S.I. 80 of 2020 now strengthens the above stated position.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Press Release Public Health Act\u00a0 The Public Health Act came into enforcement in 1975 and thereafter the following regulations were enacted under this act;\u00a0 Nuisances S.I. 10\/1978\u00a0 Offensive Trades S.I. 11\/1978\u00a0 Communicable and Notifiable Diseases S.I. 12\/1978, Amended by S.I. 21\/1991\u00a0 Barber S.I. 13\/1978\u00a0 Water Quality Control S.I. 14\/1978\u00a0 Apartments ...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-8023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-health","post_format-post-format-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8023"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8026,"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8023\/revisions\/8026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rcistlucia.com\/staging\/5763\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}