Airlines alerted to check spread of swine flu
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
By Saad Hasan
KARACHI: Pakistan beefed up monitoring of inbound passengers on Tuesday to check spread of deadly Swine Flu as health experts warned not enough vaccines and poor virus detection capability at hospitals necessitate need for containing it at airports.
**Airlines have been asked to report to airport officials about passengers suffering from incessant cough, fever and other symptoms associated with the virus, said Dr Liaquat Bhatti, in-charge of disease control at all international airports. **
“We have asked airline crews to be extra cautious in dealing with passengers embarking from destinations like America, Canada and transit hub Dubai,” he said. “Arrangements have been made for isolating anyone suspected of carrying the virus.”
Unlike other countries in region which have installed high-tech machines to check fever among passengers, airports here are poorly equipped and halfhearted attempt is being made on part of vigilance staff, aviation industry people said.
“This high alert and warnings being issued are all eyewash,” said a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) official deputed at international arrival terminal of Karachi International Airport, country’s largest.
“I did not see anyone here trying to check if passengers coming from abroad are okay,” he said, adding that passengers of a flight from the US came out as usual.
Though this contagious disease has not assumed status of a pandemic, health officials fear its outbreak on streets will be disastrous as Pakistan lacks even basic facilities to distinguish symptoms of normal flu from that of deadly Swine Flu.
Dr Bushra Jameel, Head of Infection Control Committee of Agha Khan Hospital, said health infrastructure is not sufficient to deal with any eventuality arising from spread of such a virus.
“We are not prepared at all and there is a severe shortfall of resources,” she said, regretting that even mechanism for sample collection, its transportation and testing is non-existent.
Situation at government health facilities is dire, she said, as they don’t have isolation wards and protective gears like doctor’s gloves and masks for preventing cross-transmissions.
Pakistan also faces shortfall of vaccines against transmittable diseases as successive governments have never bothered to build vaccinations stockpiles for civilians, pharmaceutical industry people said.
Kaiser Waheed, former Chairman Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, said un-preparedness of authorities is reflecting years of under investment in health infrastructure.
“What else can you expect when less than one percent of budget is spent on health?” he said, adding only few private hospitals will be able to deal with Swine Flu cases.
An official of Roche Pakistan said it has not yet received stocks of Tamilflu from its Swiss parent company. GlaxoSmithKline did not say how much of Relenza, its antiviral drug, is in store for local requirement.
Swine Flu outbreak, which was first reported in Mexico, has also threatened the airline businesses, which are already struggling to recover from shocks of a global economic slowdown.
Syed Nasir Ali, Managing Director of private airline Air Blue, said there can be a short slump in air traffic because of the outbreak but it is premature to be sure about the exact impact. “It all depends on what epidemic form it takes.”
Airlines alerted to check spread of swine flu
I hope they’re checking the deboarding passengers thoroughly for any signs of the flu. It’s good to know though that atleast they’re aware and making an attempt to control any situation from arising.