Peru Roundup: Foreign arrivals, dengue fever, measles vaccination

Increase in foreign arrivals

Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Juan Carlos Mathews has reported the rapid recovery in the tourism sector of Cajamarca, a region in the northern highlands of the Latin American nation, surpassing pre-pandemic figures in 2023. According to local media El Peruano, the Minister said that between January and November of 2023, the Cajamarca airport received 289,000 people, 39.4% higher than in 2019.  “Cajamarca is achieving a faster level of tourism recovery than many other regions in the country. This is revealed, for example, in the arrival of passengers at its airport, or, to touch on recent data, in the arrival of more than 70 thousand tourists, both national and foreign, to Carnival 2024,” Carlos Mathews is quoted by El Peruano.

Care spaces for dengue fever

The Emergency Hospital of Villa El Salvador (HEVES) in Peru has increased temporary care spaces for dengue patients, with specialists training staff in early detection, sample collection, and referral to the hospital, Peruvian state news agency Andina reports. In 2024, 25 dengue cases have been treated at the HEVES, including an elderly female patient who died due to severe complications with a chronic illness, Andina reported.

Vaccination of children against measles

The Ministry of Health in Peru has urged parents to vaccinate their children against measles following two confirmed cases in the nation’s capital, Lima. According to Andina, the Vice Minister of Public Health Ricardo Peña said that the Latin American nation has a stock of vaccines, including 1.2 million doses for children under 5. Andina quotes the Vice Minister saying, “Rapid response teams have been deployed to track affected individuals and vaccination brigades are mobilizing to create a blockade around the identified cases.”

Housing for disaster victims

Peru’s Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation (MVCS) has provided a Housing Leasing Bond for Emergencies (BAE) to families affected by Cyclone Yaku, an unusual low-pressure system in the far Southeastern Pacific that impacted Ecuador and northern Peru and El Niño Costero also called the coastal El Niño in 2023. According to El Peruano, the MVCS and local governments collaborated to enable 346 families affected by these disasters from 12 provinces and 50 districts in Cajamarca to submit documentation for subsidy collection. 43 families affected by collapsed homes have made the first payment of 500 Peruvian sol ($132.08) for up to two years to rent a safe living space, El Peruano reports.

Diplomatic mission abroad

Peruvian Vice Minister Jorge Chaparro presided over a farewell ceremony for military personnel on a diplomatic mission, highlighting the deployment of female personnel in the diplomatic mission who were sent to Argentina and India respectively, the state news agency reports. “You will be part of the network of 118 members who are deployed in 22 countries. This network constitutes a powerful tool to build friendly relations with the Armed Forces of the countries to which they have been assigned,” Chaparro is quoted by Andina.