Vietnam’s Ministry of Health will carry out an anti-Ebola drill at a large hospital this week, as part of its efforts to cope with the spread of the deadly Ebola virus that has killed over 4,550 people in Africa.
>> Vietnam applies health declaration sooner to visitors from Ebola-hit area
The drill will be conducted at the Central Tropical Diseases Hospital, health deputy minister Nguyen Thanh Long said on Sunday when he visited the hospital to examine its preparations for responses to the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in case it penetrates into Vietnam.
The exercise will be based on a scenario that the hospital received a suspected Ebola patient transferred from the Dong Anh District General Hospital.
The drill is aimed at reviewing and assessing preparations, both in personnel and facilities, to cope with the disease, the official said.
Recent examinations by the ministry, the World Health Organization (WHO) and relevant international organizations, confirmed that the hospital is well ready to receive and treat Ebola patients, the ministry said.
The hospital has equipped its health workers with personal protective clothes and tools, the ministry said.
The hospital has set up an Ebola testing laboratory complying with biological safety requirements by the WHO, the ministry said.
This week the ministry and the WHO will verify the hospital’s laboratory to determine whether it has met requirements for Ebola testing.
During his visit, deputy minister Long also asked the hospital, as well as others that have been assigned to treat EVD patients, if any, to enhance their vigilance to Ebola injection and their readiness against the disease.
These health facilities must strictly comply with the ministry’s recently promulgated guidelines for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of the EVD.
The epidemic situation has developed complicatedly during the past several days, with three nurses in the US and Spain infected with the virus while caring for Ebola patients at hospitals in the two countries, deputy minister Long said.
Therefore, all countries, including Vietnam, should review their procedures to prevent the virus transmission at health facilities, he added.
The official said the ministry has set up four fast response teams at national levels and provinces and cities, as well as every district of them, will also set up their own teams, the official said.
The ministry has earlier requested that all the local health authorities must strictly apply health declaration to all visitors from the African countries being stricken by the disease, including Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, and Congo.
Ebola is a highly dangerous virus that can kill 90 percent of infected people, the health ministry warned, adding that Ebola infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, and tissues of infected animals or people.
Last Friday, AFP cited WHO statistics as showing that 4,555 people had died from the EVD out of a total of 9,216 cases recorded in seven countries.
Most of the fatalities were in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the three worst affected West African nations by far, the WHO said.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Vietnam to carry out anti-Ebola drill in Hanoi this week Related image(s)
0 comments:
Post a Comment