JEDDAH: Around 150 doctors in Makkah province attended a swine flu training session organized by the Department of Health Affairs in Jeddah on Sunday.
The 150 doctors — 100 men and 50 women — will in turn train schoolteachers on how to protect against the virus and treat the illness. The event was held at the Studies and Research Center of King Fahd Hospital.
Dr. Sami Badawood, director of Health Affairs, said the session was held to spread awareness about the disease and outline precautionary measures that should be followed to curb the spread of the pandemic.
A series of meetings were also held between officials of the health and education sectors in the province to coordinate efforts, formulate plans to deal with the current situation and lay out mechanisms to handle cases of swine flu.
During the session, Dr. Adil Turkistani delivered a lecture about the H1N1 pandemic, its epidemic nature, how it spreads and its diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Sulafa Qutob, consultant in family and society medicine at the Maternity and Children’s Hospital in Jeddah, spoke about ways of protection against the virus.
It was also announced that over 2,500 CDs containing data about the virus would be distributed among secondary and intermediate school students. CDs containing simplified information about swine flu will be distributed among elementary school students.
Badawood lauded the cooperation between the Health Affairs Department and the education administration in Makkah province. He added that the session was the first step in a comprehensive awareness campaign about the disease.
Badawood said awareness programs would be held in schools in addition to training programs for school health guides as well as enlightening lessons for students and parents.
Badawood asked all sections of society to cooperate with the Department of Health Affairs in curbing the spread of the pandemic by adopting the correct methods of protection.
Director of Education in Makkah province Abdullah Al-Thakafi, who attended the session, said the health situation in schools would be closely monitored and added that every school would have a separate room to diagnose suspected cases of swine flu.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has issued orders to extend the summer holidays in order to give school authorities sufficient time to prepare for handling possible swine flu cases after the summer break.
