Discrimination against Trinidad and Tobago travellers

THE EDITOR, Madam:

There is a troubling inconsistency in Jamaica’s travel health policies that deserves urgent attention. Passengers arriving from Trinidad and Tobago are currently required to undergo screening and present proof of yellow fever vaccination, despite the fact that the last reported case of yellow fever in Trinidad was in 1979. For more than four decades, there has been no local transmission of this disease.

At the same time, the United States is experiencing its largest measles outbreak in 25 years, with over a thousand cases reported across multiple states. Measles, unlike yellow fever, is airborne and highly contagious, capable of spreading rapidly in airports, aircraft cabins and crowded public spaces. Yet passengers arriving from the US face no screening and no vaccination checks.

This imbalance amounts to public health discrimination. It unfairly singles out a Caribbean and CARICOM neighbour with no present risk while ignoring the immediate danger posed by travellers from a country with an active outbreak.

Public health measures must be evidence-based and equitable. To protect Jamaicans, policies should be consistent, rational and guided by current epidemiology. The current policy seems to portray double standards.

DR KURT GABRIEL