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WHO eastern Mediterranean region prepared for response to H1N1

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, May 4, IRNA - The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that the Eastern Mediterranean Region remains free of influenza A (H1N1) to date and that countries of the Region are prepared to respond to influenza A (H1N1) pandemic.

However, WHO reiterates that no country is safe from H1N1 virus transmission, a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said here on Monday.

According to a WHO press release issued in Cairo on Sunda, in response to influenza A (H1N1), ministries of health in all countries of the region have already started implementing their national strategic plans for preparedness and response, which have detailed guidelines and directions for each and every stage of human pandemic influenza.

The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and WHO country offices are collaborating with ministries of health and are providing them with updated and accurate technical information on a continuous basis.

In a meeting of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean in September 2006, the regional health ministers committed to developing and/or strengthening their national strategic plans for preparedness and response to avian influenza and human pandemic influenza. The plans include the establishment of a high level national committee comprising representatives from key ministries and concerned technical bodies who oversee, coordinate and guide prompt response. The strategic plans also focus on responding in a timely manner to outbreaks of any new influenza virus with pandemic potentials among humans through strengthening national and international capacity for surveillance, epidemiological investigation and treatment of human cases; enhancing information management, risk assessment and exchange of epidemiological data and specimens; and strengthening support for specimen collection, laboratory diagnosis and virological analysis of influenza viruses.