“Hon. Minister of Health, Dr Kenneth Darroux is reporting that Dominica will not be engaging in the use of genetically-modified mosquitoes to combat the Aedes Egypti mosquito- the vector which carries the Zika virus.
He was speaking at a Zika press conference earlier this month.
“This is a proposal which has been on the table for quite a few years,” he revealed. “I want to make it clear that the OECS Ministers of Health and the Ministry of Health in Dominica have stated categorically that we are not going to engage in any discussion unless there is scientific proof that this is safe.
“Releasing genetically-modified material into the environment might help combat the Aedes Egypti but then what happens to the modified material? It will get into the water and food supply etc. We need much more concrete information before we can engage these companies which are lobbying to use this method.”