Abu Dhabi: Health care and disaster management professionals came together in the capital for an intensive four-day training session on how best to respond to an emergency or infectious disease outbreak.
Stringent planning, risk assessment and co-ordination were identified as key to managing an outbreak of a communicable disease.
The course, organised by the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) for the first time, was attended by nearly 30 professionals.
“So far, we have been concentrating on how to track the incidence of infectious diseases, and the relevant surveillance systems are now functioning robustly in Abu Dhabi emirate, with health care providers reporting any suspected or confirmed cases.
“In fact, last year [2011], we received 21,373 notifications on possible infectious disease cases,” said Dr Farida Al Hosani, manager of communicable diseases at the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD).
Now, the HAAD wants to ensure any outbreaks are dealt with in a timely and effective manner.
“While we do have health-care professionals trained in emergency responses, as well as experts in other organisations, there is still a need for more capacity building in the field.
“This training programme therefore includes not only health-care experts but also professionals from food control and crisis management sectors, among others,” Dr Farida told Gulf News.
In previous years, the HAAD has coordinated with the other government entities to manage outbreaks that occurred.
“For example, we have recently handled mass food poisoning incidents in labour accommodations in Abu Dhabi emirate in close collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA).
“In fact, of the infectious disease notifications in 2011, 667 pertained to food-borne illnesses. The HAAD investigated each case in detail, and referred cases with food consumed from a single place to the ADFCA for further investigation,” the HAAD official said.
“While there were no fatalities, we still want to build on our coordination procedures and response strategies,” she added.
The extensive training, which concluded on Wednesday, also saw officials from the Oman Ministry of Health in attendance.
“Most residents of GCC countries live in a relatively safe zone, yet all kinds of hazards do surround them. Frequent travelling means that infectious diseases are easily transmitted.
“Most GCC nations also have long coastlines that are open to natural disasters. This means that emergency preparedness is vital, but the human resources for such responses are still very much lacking,” said Dr Eisa Al Shuaili, acting head of environmental and occupational health at the Omani ministry.
“For instance, we were unprepared in Oman during the first cyclone in 2007, and about 150 lives were lost. When it occurred again in 2010, we were able to prevent many more fatalities,” Dr Al Shuaili added.
