WHO endorses Saudi steps to check coronavirus
Monday 13 May 2013
Last Update 13 May 2013 2:25 am
Saudi Arabia has taken steps to protect its people from the coronavirus. The experience and knowledge that the country has gained fighting coronavirus can benefit the rest of the world, said a visiting WHO official.
Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of the WHO’s Health Security and Environment, said the Kingdom has taken the coronavirus situation seriously and its Ministry of Health has initiated public health action, including intensifying surveillance, initiating investigations and research and putting preventive measures in place.
“One of the reasons why more cases have been identified in KSA may be because they have gone ahead to strengthen their surveillance system, lab capacity and network,” he said.
Upon invitation from the Kingdom, a team of health experts arrived in the country on Friday to assess the status of the spread of the virus in the country. The visiting team includes two WHO officials, Fukuda and Dr. Jawad, quarantine director of communicable diseases of the WHO in Cairo. The other international scientists are Dr. Connie Savor Price, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Denver Health Medical Center and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Denver; Trish Burrell, consultant, infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University; Paul Tambaiah, consultant infectious diseases the University of Singapore; and Allison Mack Qier of Mount Toronto Hospital.
On Saturday, the team visited the health facilities in Hofuf and the hospital, where a number of infected cases were treated.
Fukuda was speaking at a meeting held yesterday under the chairmanship of Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health here.
Welcoming the delegation, Al-Rabeeah said that since last September, the Kingdom diagnosed 45 virus infected patients, of whom 15 died. He dismissed reports that the virus attack was confined to Al-Ahsa province, and said there were incidences in Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh, too.
“We will continue to cooperate with the WHO and other international organizations in the fight against infectious diseases for the betterment of the nation,” he stressed.
“We have not come to inspect the measures taken by the Kingdom,” Fukuda said, adding that the team came here to see what was found in general about the disease.
“In the Kingdom, we have seen the importance of better surveillance. When new cases are found, as is likely, it is critical for countries to report these cases and related information urgently to the WHO as required by international health regulations because this is the basis for effective international alertness, preparedness and response,” he said.
“Countries also need to assess their level of preparedness and readiness if this virus should spread and intensify the core capacities identified in the international health regulations if they are not adequate. The WHO is ready to assist countries in this region and globally in these tasks,” he said. http://www.arabnews.com/news/451453
Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of the WHO’s Health Security and Environment, said the Kingdom has taken the coronavirus situation seriously and its Ministry of Health has initiated public health action, including intensifying surveillance, initiating investigations and research and putting preventive measures in place.
“One of the reasons why more cases have been identified in KSA may be because they have gone ahead to strengthen their surveillance system, lab capacity and network,” he said.
Upon invitation from the Kingdom, a team of health experts arrived in the country on Friday to assess the status of the spread of the virus in the country. The visiting team includes two WHO officials, Fukuda and Dr. Jawad, quarantine director of communicable diseases of the WHO in Cairo. The other international scientists are Dr. Connie Savor Price, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Denver Health Medical Center and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Denver; Trish Burrell, consultant, infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University; Paul Tambaiah, consultant infectious diseases the University of Singapore; and Allison Mack Qier of Mount Toronto Hospital.
On Saturday, the team visited the health facilities in Hofuf and the hospital, where a number of infected cases were treated.
Fukuda was speaking at a meeting held yesterday under the chairmanship of Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health here.
Welcoming the delegation, Al-Rabeeah said that since last September, the Kingdom diagnosed 45 virus infected patients, of whom 15 died. He dismissed reports that the virus attack was confined to Al-Ahsa province, and said there were incidences in Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh, too.
“We will continue to cooperate with the WHO and other international organizations in the fight against infectious diseases for the betterment of the nation,” he stressed.
“We have not come to inspect the measures taken by the Kingdom,” Fukuda said, adding that the team came here to see what was found in general about the disease.
“In the Kingdom, we have seen the importance of better surveillance. When new cases are found, as is likely, it is critical for countries to report these cases and related information urgently to the WHO as required by international health regulations because this is the basis for effective international alertness, preparedness and response,” he said.
“Countries also need to assess their level of preparedness and readiness if this virus should spread and intensify the core capacities identified in the international health regulations if they are not adequate. The WHO is ready to assist countries in this region and globally in these tasks,” he said. http://www.arabnews.com/news/451453
