Swine flu response plan in the works

A sub-committee of the National Health Emergency Management Committee (NHEPC) was set up yesterday to formulate a response plan should an outbreak of the H1N1 flu or swine flu occur in Namibia.

The sub-committee is headed by Malawian epidemiologist, Dr Pascal Mkanda, who is in Namibia for three weeks at the request of Health Minister Richard Kamwi, and will focus on the state response should an outbreak happen.A draft response plan is expected to be formulated in time for the NHEPC’s next meeting on Tuesday, where other members of the committee, headed by Dr Jack Vries, will fine-tune the plan and begin discussing measures to be put in place in case of an outbreak.Some of the elements that the sub-committee will be taking into consideration in the drafting of the plan include making planning assumptions, defining critical staff needs, highlighting restrictions that would need to be put in place, designing a communication plan, and considering pandemic preparatory planning models used in other health scares.The committee has ordered a consignment of 20 000 doses of Tamiflu, 200 000 surgical masks, and 900 testing swabs.Some of the surgical masks and 125 swabs have already been delivered, and the Tamiflu is expected to arrive from South Africa later this month.Also in the works are the printing of 500 000 pamphlets to be distributed to every household, with additional information being distributed through the media, particularly radio.The City of Windhoek has already committed to printing and distributing information flyers for all its residents through its billing exercise.Also, 500 000 travellers’ cards have been ordered, given the influx of tourists at all major points of entry.A sub-committee for communication and distribution, headed by Dr Bashupi Maloboka of the Ministry of Health’s Information, Education and Communication Division, has also been formed to ensure the smooth coordination and distribution of public communication material.The committee plans to meet again on Tuesday to determine its response plan.- nangula@namibian.com.na