 The Environmental Health Department is responsible for the control of pests and vector-borne diseases on the island. From the start of the 2023 rainy season, the department has been actively monitoring and implementing measures to keep the mosquito population at bay. To control the mosquito population, the department uses the age-old but very effective method of fogging community by community. Senior Environmental Health Officer Charlotte Charles Lehan says that in November, the department held a five-day training exercise for environmental health officers focused on the chemical used in the fight against the growth of the mosquito population. This training exercise is geared at building capacity within the vector control unit and that is a capacity in the sense of training officers to carry out testing for resistance of chemicals, resistance of mosquitoes to chemicals that be used in our daily control activities. Ms. Charles Lehan says it is important to ensure that the chemicals being used are effective in order to keep the mosquito population at a minimum. With the current downpours being experienced on island, the expected rise in dengue has been noted. It's something that we do expect because it's a seasonal trend. It tends to happen very frequently, right? So we have seen that increase in the number of vector-borne diseases. We have been trying our utmost best to go to various communities to do some level of sensitization, control, rechecking drums, rechecking containers. We've been going to tire shops as well, doing quite a bit of work there with those business owners. We have been doing all our school inspections to ensure that the school yards are kept safe and free from vectors. The training sessions were facilitated by the Caribbean Public Health Agency, CAFA. Senior Technical Officer for Vector-Borne Diseases Rajesh Raghu says the training builds on previous sessions held within CAFA member states. This week, we're here to do some additional work in insecticide resistance testing. We are partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who is providing some funding for this particular activity. We did some exercises both on the field as well as in the insectry that St. Lucia currently has with the new ministry. And we're building capacity in vector control personnel to carry out and monitor insecticide resistance within the 80s Egypti mosquito populations within St. Lucia. According to results thus far, there has been no sign of resistance to the current products being used. Nonetheless, the Environmental Health Department is looking into venturing into the use of more eco-friendly products in the future. At last count, 52 persons have been diagnosed with the dengue virus on Ireland. For the Communication Unit of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Early Affairs, I'm Sans Justin.