a Part of Local Flood Recovery Efforts
Greater Shepparton Foundation's Mosquito-Borne Disease Intervention Prevention program launches next week and forms an important part of our community flood recovery efforts.
This program provides every child attending kindergarten in Greater Shepparton in 2023 in-language information and an insect repellent, to ensure more families in our community are informed and safe from mosquito-borne diseases and their life-long impacts.
After a flood or heavy rainfall, mosquitoes breed in the pools of water left behind.
Mosquito-borne diseases in Victoria include the Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, Murray Valley Encephalitis (MVE) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus. JE and MVE viruses can cause severe illness and death in some people.
When it became evident that mosquito-borne disease was going to be a real issue for our community after the significant flooding and flood waters not receding for weeks, Greater Shepparton Foundation responded by developing this program alongside our partners to support those most vulnerable in our community.
We know our Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities, who face language and cultural barriers may not be aware of the dangers of mosquito-borne disease, and not have access to mosquito prevention information like their English-speaking counterparts.
In striving for an inclusive, interconnected community where everybody has an equal opportunity to participate, we at GSF believe it is important that this education extends to everyone in our community.
GSF will be providing not only repellent, but also the information in various languages via video and print to ensures more in our community are able to keep informed and safe from mosquito-borne diseases.
We are working with the Community Health Educators as part of the Well Wise Women program to develop the in-language information that will be distributed via kindergartens and available online via our website and social media and encourage other local organisations to share this information too.
The information includes flyers and videos outlining the most effective protective measures from mosquito-borne disease and how to use insect repellents safely with children.
This prevention program is supported by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), Pratt Foundation, Wise Well Women and Greater Shepparton City Council.