H1N1 Flu: walking the line between exaggeration and complacency

The World Health Organization has announced its intention to provide Yemen with 2,200,000 doses of the Swine Flu antivirus. Dr. Ahmed al-Hadad, the head of the Department of Community Medicine and the former dean of the College of Medicine, stated that these doses are expected to arrive in December.
 

The Yemen Observer asked Dr. al-Hadad about the side effects and safety of the antivirus. He explained that the “medicine is totally safe and it doesn’t have any dangerous side effects. It has been thoroughly tested by the World Health Organization. However, the number of allocated doses is not going to be enough for all of the infected cases in our country.”
 

Dr. al-Hadad emphasized the importance of giving this issue deliberate consideration and taking proper preventative precautions against the H1N1 virus, but he warned against exaggerating the level of danger.
 

On Thursday, October 29th Sana’a University held a symposium dealing with the H1N1 Virus, also known as the Swine Flu. The president of the university, Dr. Khalid Tamem and a number of high level doctors attended the symposium. A number of issues were discussed at the function, including the development of the flu, its vaccination, and methods of prevention. In his speech, Dr. Tamem emphasized the importance of educating people throughout the country on the best means of preventing the disease.
 

He noted that four people had been discovered with the flu on the university campus and that the total number of infected cases in Yemen has almost reached a thousand, including fifteen fatalities.
 

Additionally, the symposium also discussed the various precautions that the Ministry of Health has advised people to take to protect themselves from the H1N1 virus. Dr. Abdul Hakeem al-Kuhlani, a general manager at the Ministry of Health, disclosed that the Minister of Public Health and Population, Dr. Abdul Karim Rasa’a, is dedicating most of his time to this issue and to finding more effective solutions for the problem.
 

The Ministry of Health is doing its best to educate people as much as it can by broadcasting short programs on TV and through other media. Also, the academic year has been postponed in order to minimize the risk of the H1N1 flu spreading among the students.

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