KUWAIT CITY - Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital held an open meeting with the health and educational departments at Hawally zone, in a step aimed at strengthening coordination between the two departments in controlling the swine flu pandemic, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily. Personalities present at the meeting were Director of Mubarak Hospital Dr Ahmad Al-Awadhi, and Chairperson of the Health Care Unit Dr Wafaa Al-Rashidi. Other attendants included Director of the Hawally Educational Zone Mona Khalid Al-Salal and a number of medical practitioners. In his keynote address, Dr Al-Awadhi welcomed the attendants and confirmed the need for coordination between the medical authorities in the exchange of data and discussions on the disease's control.
He revealed Mubarak Hospital has put plans in place to set up three wards where swine flu patients will be isolated-men, women and children's wards. He added Kuwait has made excellent arrangements to confront swine flu, and the current situation is okay. He stressed the only problem the people are currently suffering is fear of the pandemic, which can be overcome in due course. He added the Ministry of Health is doing its utmost to confront the disease by exerting tremendous efforts to make provisions for sufficient quantity of Tamiflu in the country. He indicated the medication is available at hospitals. He said many patients have been treated and discharged from the hospitals. He went on to urge persons with symptoms of swine flu to visit the nearest health center, or call the ministry's emergency line 24722000, recommending the person to stay at home for seven days.
In her speech, Director of Hawally Educational Zone Mona Al-Salal thanked Dr Al-Awadhi for providing a chance to communicate and coordinate with the health departments. She added the Ministry of Education has set up clinics at schools ready to receive cases, in addition to emergency teams, which will be positioned in each school and headed by the school's director.
Clinics
She disclosed around twenty clinics have been prepared in all schools, while an estimated ninety-nine schools will be equipped in the near future. On the other hand, the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mudhi Al-Hummoud stressed the decision to postpone classes was not made under pressure from any MP, and stressed the decision had already been taken before the MPs issued statements in that regard. She affirmed the decision to postpone classes targeted the good of the country and its students. Al-Hummoud asked people to understand the atmosphere surrounding the decision, which is crisis management, and coping with what is taking place in the world, including the Gulf. She called for support of Kuwait's ambitious development plan, and stressed on the importance of cooperating with the media in this domain.
Meanwhile, children infected with H1N1 swine flu will be treated with Tamiflu antibiotic (capsule) on a dosage of 30mg to 45mg due to scarcity of the syrup, reports Awan daily quoting sources. The sources added the antibiotics will be available at all health centers and hospitals. In a related development, the Ministry of Health recorded 378 new cases of H1N1 swine flu infection over the week. However, most of the cases were not critical. Briefing the press, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health Dr Qaiys Al-Dowairy disclosed 2,157 cases of the infection were recorded by the state as of April 2009. He assured most of them have recovered.
In other developments, Kuwait reportedly imports Tamiflu vaccines, which is used for the treatment of swine flu, from an Israeli manufacturing company, reports Al-Shahid daily. The daily quoting reliable sources said the company is expected to produce an estimated 145, 000 new Tamiflu vaccines, wherein Kuwait has booked its quota. The sources explained the company is Israeli based, which has monopolized production of the vaccine in Europe.
Vaccine
In the meantime, Kuwait will receive the new Tamiflu vaccine by the end of the year. In the meantime, two officials working at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) are said to have been infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus. The men were reportedly infected during interrogations with expatriates who are detained at the Department for violating labor and residence laws, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily. According to reliable sources this happened during interrogations with an unidentified Asian woman who is believed to be suffering from the swine flu disease. The sources added the CID men are running the risk of contracting the disease due to the increasing number of the violators at the department. The sources also said a plan is being discussed to do away with routine procedures and deporting the detained persons as soon as possible to prevent the flu from spreading.
Meanwhile, a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that Kuwait recorded the highest number of swine flu cases in the Middle East with 1,797 infections and 5 deaths, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily. The report also shows a decline in the number of cases reported from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The country has currently recorded 434 infections and 23 deaths. Djibouti stands as the nation least affected by the disease. According to data collected by the WHO, 9,844 cases with over 52 deaths have collectively been reported by 21 countries in the Middle Eastern region.
© Arab Times 2009
