THE Government has so far spent more than $100 million to treat patients with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), including Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton explained that it costs the Government $1.5 million to treat each case of AFP, and so far there have been 81 notifications, 10 of which have been considered suspected cases of GBS. Two have been confirmed as Zika positive.

The minsiter’s statement followed a story in the Sunday Observer in which attorney Delano Franklyn spoke about his affliction with the Zika virus, his near-death experience with GBS, and the costly medical care that pulled him through at the Tony Thwaites Wing, a private facility at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

Dr Tufton, however, stressed that, with the Government’s free health care policy, medication to treat AFP, including GBS, is not at a cost to patients at public facilities.

“We recognise that our public sector patients would not be able to afford the cost for treating GBS, and so we have been purchasing the medication and supplies to ensure that we are in a position to provide what is needed as best as possible. At the onset of the Zika outbreak we expected to see increased GBS cases, especially given the experience from other countries, so we have been preparing for that,” said the minister.

Dr Tufton, however, thanked Franklyn for sharing his story about his experience with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which he said will help with efforts to sensitise Jamaicans about this and other possible complications of the Zika virus.

“… This will help ongoing efforts to educate Jamaicans about the Zika virus and its complications, and place into focus the increased need for individual responsibility to tackle the source of the problem by destroying mosquito breeding sites around their environment, especially homes,” said the minister.

Individuals who want to obtain more information were asked to call the health ministry, visit the nearest health centre, or log on to the ministry’s website.