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Friday 17 October 2014

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Ebola crisis ; All airports directed to screen passengers from affected countries in Pakistan

  There is a low risk of Ebola outbreak in Pakistan, for this purpose federal government  has chalked out a comprehensive plan in coordination with the provinces, UN agencies and the Pakistan Army to fight against disease if any case emerges in the country.
“There is no single case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has been reported in Pakistan, we are all set to deal with the fatal disease that has claimed over 4,000 lives across the world,” Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) Saira Afzal Tarar told reporters on Wednesday.
According to her government should take measures for this proper provision of guidance, advice and capacity building to identify suspected cases of EVD and manage possible outbreak of the disease according to World Health Organisation (WHO) and International guidelines.
“Screening of passengers whose coming from Ebola affected countries at all major airports across the country .Notice given to all public hospitals to establish separate isolation wards for the treatment of its patients,” Tarar said.
The minister added that the Pakistan Army was also looking after all officers returning from Ebola-affected countries.
“Around 8,000 Pakistani soldiers are deployed as part of UN peacekeeping mission in African countries… the army has informed us it is regularly screening all soldiers returning to Pakistan [from peacekeeping duties in Africa].”
Tarar said that the government will keep a special check on all the entry and exit points of the country. The provinces, meanwhile, have been asked to immediately report any EVD case to the federal health ministry. All provincial and federal health departments have been directed to nominate a federal and provincial director general health as a focal person for the EVD coordinating body.
On Wednesday The NHSRC ministry also held a meeting on, which was attended by representatives from WHO, Unicef, provincial health departments and Civil Aviation Authority, among others.
According to a press release issued by the ministry, participants of the meeting agreed to notify a coordination body with representation of all partners and stakeholders, and responsibilities were assigned to undertake major tasks. It stated that the NHSRC minister depressed on an awareness campaign throughout the country.
Meanwhile, WHO committed to keep staff training and the Unicef Health Section committed to support the government of Pakistan in developing a comprehensive Communication Plan for EVD awareness.
On the other hand, vice-chancellor of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Prof Javed Akram, said the administration of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) has not received any directions from the federal government to establish an isolation ward for EVD. “However Pims has taken this initiative on its own,” he added.

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