DUBAI: The UAE has not witnessed any cases of swine flu and the country is geared up to tackle any outbreak, said UAE Minister of Health Humaid Mohammed Al-Qattami yesterday.
Al-Qattami, speaking at a press conference, urged the public to be calm and said that the ministry has put in place procedures to detect any cases. He pointed out that there is enough vaccine in the country to deal with an epidemic.
Al-Qattami also revealed that GCC health ministers would be meeting on Saturday to coordinate plans to deal with swine flu in case of an outbreak.
He pointed out that the ministry has already sent out circulars to all hospitals and clinics alerting doctors to the potential pandemic. Adding that the ministry was in contact with national and international organizations regarding the outbreak. “We are closely monitoring the developments of the situation and our emergency teams are ready to swing into action. We also have enough medication to deal with any outbreak”, he said.
Airports have been placed under strict surveillance to spot anyone arriving who might have swine flu, officials also said yesterday. Majid Al-Mansuri, secretary general of the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, said all the country’s airports and entry points are being closely monitored to detect any suspected cases of the disease.
The Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) said it is fully prepared to face cases of infected passengers traveling through the airport.
“Readiness measures include isolating aircraft where necessary, dealing with high risk passengers or passengers found with high temperatures and directing them to designated areas for further assessment and observation,” Ahmad Al Haddabi, senior vice president of airport operations at ADAC, said in a company statement.
