From The Guardian UK

Jamaica calls for Britain to pay billions of pounds in reparations for slavery
Downing Street says David Cameron does not believe compensation is the right approach ahead of his first official visit to Jamaica

IMAGE: Portia Simpson Miller, the Jamaican prime minister, called for non-confrontational discussions about reparations in 2013. Photograph: Collin Reid/AP

David Cameron is facing calls for Britain to pay billions of pounds in reparations for slavery ahead of his first official visit to Jamaica on Tuesday.

Downing Street said the prime minister does not believe reparations or apologies for slavery are the right approach, but the issue is set to overshadow his trade trip to the island, where he will address the Jamaican parliament.

Ahead of his trip, Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission, has led calls for Cameron to start talks on making amends for slavery and referenced the prime minister’s ancestral links to the trade in the 1700s through his cousin six times removed, General Sir James Duff.

In an open letter in the Jamaica Observer, the academic wrote: “You are a grandson of the Jamaican soil who has been privileged and enriched by your forebears’ sins of the enslavement of our ancestors … You are, Sir, a prized product of this land and the bonanza benefits reaped by your family and inherited by you continue to bind us together like birds of a feather.

“We ask not for handouts or any such acts of indecent submission. We merely ask that you acknowledge responsibility for your share of this situation and move to contribute in a joint programme of rehabilitation and renewal. The continuing suffering of our people, Sir, is as much your nation’s duty to alleviate as it is ours to resolve in steadfast acts of self-responsibility.”

Professor Verene Shepherd, chair of the National Commission on Reparation, told the Jamaica Gleaner that nothing short of an unambiguous apology from Cameron would do, while a Jamaican MP, Mike Henry, called on fellow parliamentarians to turn their back on Cameron if reparations are not on the agenda, noting that the Jamaican parliament has approved a motion for the country to seek reparation from Britain.

“If it is not on the agenda, I will not attend any functions involving the visiting prime minister, and I will cry shame on those who do, considering that there was not a dissenting voice in the debate in parliament,” he told the newspaper.

Jamaica’s prime minister Portia Simpson Miller called for non-confrontational discussions at the UN in 2013, but Britain has never accepted the case for any compensation payments.

A Number 10 official said: “This is a longstanding concern of theirs and there is a longstanding UK position, true of successive governments in the UK, that we don’t think reparations are the right approach.

“The PM’s point will be he wants to focus on the future. We are talking about issues that are centuries old and taken under a different government when he was not even born. He wants to look at the future and how can the UK play a part now in stronger growing economies in the Caribbean.”

The official said Cameron’s purpose in visiting Jamaica and Grenada was to reinvigorate their relationship with the UK.

“He looks at that kind of relationship and who the Caribbean see as their major partners and sees them looking to China and Venezuela and thinks Britain should be in there. Britain has long historical ties with these countries,” she said.

For more on this story go to: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/29/jamaica-calls-britain-pay-billions-pounds-reparations-slavery

Hand, foot and mouth disease hits a few schools

From Jamaica Observer

IMAGE: MCLEAN… appealed to school managers to adhere to guidelines for the management of the virus.

THE ministries of education and health yesterday urged parents to be vigilant in light of the outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease in a few schools in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine last week.

In a bulletin to regional directors, school board chairmen, and principals of all public and private institutions, Chief Education Officer Dr Grace McLean appealed to school administrators to adhere to the guidelines for the management of the virus in educational institutions.

The bulletin said that the disease is a common childhood illness caused by a Coxsackie virus, which most often occurs in spring and fall seasons, and is characterised by fever and a blister-like rash affecting the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and blisters inside the mouth. Dr McLean said children are usually infected with the virus from exposure to oral secretions, such as nasal discharge and saliva, and/or stool from a sick child.

Signs and symptoms of the virus include refusal to drink or eat because of the discomfort, dehydration, blisters on specified areas, and fever. The education ministry said high fever in infants should be evaluated by a health care practitioner.

However, it said older children can be cared for at home as long as the child has adequate liquid to prevent dehydration. There is no specific treatment for the disease, but supportive care, including fever management and prevention of dehydration, are important.

According to Dr McLean, high temperatures in children and signs or symptoms of dehydration (dry skin, weight loss, persistent irritability, lethargy, or decreased urine output) are indications that immediate medical attention should be sought.

With regards to control of the virus, the bulletin said appropriate infectioncontrol practices such as limiting person-to-person contact and promoting hand-washing and other hygienic measures, were recommended to prevent the spread of the disease, although children infected with the virus generally have a mild illness and recover within one week of developing the symptoms.

The education ministry, meanwhile, said children suspected of having the disease should immediately be separated from the general school population and sent home. Also, schools were asked to frequently disinfect premises in order to prevent the spread of the disease. In addition, they were asked to regularly clean all areas and items that are more likely to have frequent hand contact, for example, taps, toys, keyboards, door handles, and desks.

School officials were also advised to contact their parish health department for additional guidance, and encouraged to ensure that staff who use cleaners or disinfectants understand their safe and appropriate use.

So far, only one school — Bridgeport Infant — has been closed, and the education ministry has informed parents and guardians to keep their children at home and not send them to nurseries and day-care centres.

The closure of the Bridgeport Infant School is to allow for sanitisation activities following the discovery of a bacterial infection at the school by the St Catherine Public Health Department last Friday.

The education ministry said it would issue other updates to the public on developments at the school, and the date when the institution will be reopened.

Meanwhile, the South East Regional Health Authority, in a press release, said the health departments in Kingston and St Andrew and St Catherine have been working closely with schools to minimise the spread of the disease. People, it said, could lower their risk of being infected by washing hands often with soap and water, especially after changing diapers and using the toilet.

For more on this story go to: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Hand–foot-and-mouth-disease-hits-a-few-schools