UAE | Health

UAE is free of swine flu, says minister

The UAE is not affected by swine flu and there is no need to panic, said the Minister of Health on Tuesday.

  • By Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter
  • Published: 12:36 April 28, 2009
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
  • With the likely death toll in Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, now standing at 149, the World Health Organization raised its flu pandemic alert level from three to four.

Dubai: While the world panics over the quick spread of swine flu, the UAE on Tuesday reassured the public that the country and the region is free of the disease.

Humaid Mohammad Al Qutami, the UAE Minister of Health, said a national emergency response committee meeting was held on Monday night to chalk out steps to prevent the flu virus from entering here.

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The committee was established three years ago to respond to the Bird Flu threat, under the chairmanship of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister. "We have an action plan in place," said a senior official.

The Health Ministry said the UAE will increase surveillance at its entry points and make the public aware of the flu epidemic. So far there are no flight cancellations from certain countries or restrictions on imports of pork products.

In two ministerial decisions, two committees to encounter any threat of swine flu will be set up.

"The Technical Health Committee on Combating Swine Flu" will be tasked with developing health plans and policies, precautions and preventive procedures to combat swine flue in accordance with the communicable diseases law. It will also be tasked with coordinating with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other relevant regional and international organisations, following up on inventories of relevant medicines and anti-virus vaccines and developing plans for observing the country's ports of entry to detect any suspected cases.

The committee to be chaired by Director General of the Ministry of Health, Dr Ali Ahmad Bin Shoukr, will comprise representatives of the Ministry of Health and local health departments in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

"The Supervisory Committee on Combating Swine Flu" is chaired by the Minister of Health and will comprise representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, the Department of Health- Abu Dhabi, Ministry of Water and Environment, Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services.

The supervisory committee will be tasked with preparing proposals and recommendations for the national strategy to combat swine flu, following up on the implementation of plans to observe ports of entry as well as coordinating with WHO and other international and regional relevant organisations.

The supervisory committee will submit follow-up reports to the General Authority for Crisis and Emergency Management. It will also update the Cabinet on nation-wide preventive measures.

The Abu Dhabi Airports Company said on Tuesday that it is ready to set in place an emergency action plan, on advice from Abu Dhabi Department of Health.

A spokesperson from Dubai International Airport said they too are ready to deal with any eventuality.

Meanwhile, Al Qutami said Gulf Cooperation Council health ministers will meet in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday to coordinate efforts to keep out the flu virus. A technical committee will also soon meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to coordinate efforts on the regional-level, the minister said.

Answering a question from journalists, Al Qutami said there is enough stock of Tamiflu (treatment of uncomplicated influenza) in the market.

- With inputs from WAM.

Task force: Prompt response

A special task force to monitor the situation on swine flu and prevent its outbreak in the country has been set up. The move was taken at Tuesday's emergency meeting, chaired by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Committee for Emergency Response to Bird flu.

Shaikh Hamdan called on the authorities concerned to take all precautionary measures to prevent the swine flu from entering into the country.

Shaikh Hamdan also issued instructions for complete coordination among all bodies to ensure that the UAE remains free of the swine flu.

The executive task force will be chaired by of Health Minister Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami and membership of director general of the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, members of the Chairman of the National Committee for Emergency Response to Bird flu, and representatives of health authorities.

The team is tasked with monitoring the latest developments on swine flu globally and taking necessary measures to prevent infiltration of the virus into the country.

Shaikh Hamdan discussed with the members of the committee preventive and precautionary measures that should be taken from all fronts to prevent swine flu from entering the country.

-WAM

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