Caribbean visitors 'should pay tourist tax' to fight diseases

The editor of the PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Journal has said that tourists to the Caribbean should pay a $1 tax to fund efforts to fight diseases in the area.

Professor Peter Hotez, from the George Washington University, says that four countries in the Caribbean suffer from a high number of neglected tropical diseases.

He named the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti and Jamaica as suffering the most from the diseases. He used the example of Haiti, which has an estimated 3.8 million cases of whip worm.

Professor Hotez proposes a $1 tourist tax as a method to provide funding to the fight against the tropical diseases. It is estimated that almost 22 million people visit the Caribbean every year.

"Despite the enormous amount of wealth infused into the Caribbean economy every year through tourism, very little if any trickles down to the poorest people in the region who suffer daily," he said.

Whip worm is found in countries with warm, humid climates. It primarily affects children who swallow soil with the eggs in. When the eggs hatch, the worms stick to the walls of the intestines, according to Medline Plus.