Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday, Sept 5, sent a message to ministries, sectors and localities to strengthen the prevention and control of the avian influenza A/H5N1, hand-foot-mouth disease and dengue fever.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday, Sept 5, sent a message to ministries, sectors and localities to strengthen the prevention and control of the avian influenza A/H5N1, hand-foot-mouth disease and dengue fever.
Reports from the Ministry of Health showed that, as of August 23, four cases of influenza A/H5N1 have been recorded in Viet Nam, of which two were fatal. The risk of an influenza epidemic is set to peak in the next two months.
So far this year, 80,180 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease have been recorded, of which 41 were fatal, while 43,220 cases of dengue fever have been recorded, 35 of which were fatal.
To prevent the risk of these diseases spreading, Dung asked the chairmen of provincial and city people's committees to establish interdisciplinary teams to inspect the prevention and control of epidemics in their localities, especially in residential areas, kindergartens and slaughter houses.
The sanitation and removal of mosquitos should be closely monitored, he said, before adding that provincial and city committees must increase the dissemination of information on the diseases and the methods of prevention via village-based health staff.
Dung has assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to guide local authorities to closely monitor the diseases of poultry and waterfowl to prevent transmission of the A/H5N1 virus to humans.
The Ministry of Education and Training will carry out measures to prevent the spreading of the three diseases at schools and will work with the health sector to assure the health of students.
The Ministry of Information and Communications has been placed in charge of disseminating information of the diseases to high-risk groups, including those living in remote areas and ethnic minorities.
Dung also asked the Ministry of Health to prepare medical equipment, drugs and chemicals for the treatment of patients and the prevention of outbreaks.
Committee established to control emerging diseases
A steering committee for preventing and controlling emerging and unidentifiable diseases will be established this year following a new health ministry decision.
Director of the ministry's Preventive Health Department Nguyen Van Binh said the committee aimed to prevent these diseases from spreading through the community.
He said the lives of Vietnamese people as well as others around the world had been impacted by diseases such as HIV/AIDS, influenza A/H5N1 and H1N1, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and hepatitis.
The number of Vietnamese people who suffer from these diseases is rapidly increasing, he added.
The steering committee, headed by Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, will guide activities on supervising, preventing and treating unidentifiable and emerging diseases nationwide. The committee will co-ordinate with other sectors to develop a comprehensive health strategy for the whole country.
(Source:VNNet)
