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Jamaican to Participate in U.S. Program on Pandemic Disease

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Indi Mclymont-Lafayette, Regional Director of Media and Environment at the Panos Caribbean office in Jamaica, has been selected to participate in the U.S. Department of State-sponsored International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on “Public Safety: Preparing for Pandemic Disease,” to take place from August 24 to September 11 in the United States.

The IVLP sends up-and-coming leaders from all over the world to the United States each year to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and experience the country and its institutions first-hand. Mclymont-Lafayette was nominated for the program by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy.

In her current position at Panos Caribbean Ms Mclymont-Lafayette covers the areas of health, gender, child rights and the environment in the region. She has received several national and regional awards for her work in those areas, including the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) Merit Award for Excellence in Health Journalism in the Caribbean, the United Nations Population Fund 2003 Platinum Award for coverage of adolescent and reproductive health issues, and PAHO’s CARICOM award for best story on HIV/AIDS, written in collaboration with a local journalist.

During the multi-city program, Ms. Mclymont-Lafayette and 24 other participants will meet with key U.S. stakeholders responsible for identifying, containing, and responding to a potential influenza pandemic at the national, state, and local levels. They will also examine the latest medical research on the pandemic influenza and the progress in vaccine development.

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