JEDDAH: The weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday discussed measures taken by the Health Ministry to combat the spread of swine flu that has claimed at least four lives in the Kingdom.
The Cabinet offered its condolences to the families of the four people who died of the H1N1 virus in the past week. They are: Abdullah, a 32-year-old Saudi nurse in Qassim; a 25-year-old Saudi in Abha; a 30-year-old Saudi man in Dammam; and an Indonesian woman, 28, in Dammam. The Ministry of Health has reported 595 cases of swine flu since May 27.
Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif presided over the meeting of the council at the Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah.
The council was briefed about the meetings and discussions of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan and Prince Naif with various world leaders and heads of state, including the Vice President of Sudan Ali Uthman Taha who visited the Kingdom last week.
Prince Naif also briefed the council on the outcome of the meeting between Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who affirmed the US role in trying to bring peace in the Middle East.
“The council also listened to a report on the elaborate preparations for welcoming Umrah pilgrims and visitors to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah during the month of Ramadan,” Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari, who is also acting minister of culture and information, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency after the council meeting.
“The council underscored the significance of citizens and expatriates adhering to the preventive measures recommended by the Ministry of Health as protection against swine flu after listening to a report submitted by the health minister to combat the disease in the Kingdom. The health minister, however, assured the public that the situation did not call for concern as most of the cases were light or moderate and with a cure rate of more than 90 percent,” Al-Anqari said.
The acting culture and information minister added that the council had authorized the minister of foreign affairs to negotiate with the South African government on a memorandum of understanding on mutual political consultation. It also authorized the minister of telecommunications and information technology to negotiate with Cuba on a draft memorandum of understanding for collaboration in the area of telecommunication, information technology and post.
The Cabinet also appointed Muhammad Al-Asheikh, director general of developmental projects, as security advisor at the Ministry of Interior, Thamir Al-Raqib as director general of developmental projects in the same ministry and Muhammad Al-Braithen director general of the water and electricity minister’s office.
