UAE has a stock of five million capsules of Tamiflu, vaccines that help prevent swine flu will arrive in UAE in September and passengers are not restricted from travelling to any destination.

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), in cooperation with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), organised a presentation for the hotel industry on swine flu and brief them about the preparedness plans to combat H1N1 flu in the UAE.

The presentation followed by a Q&A session was conducted by Dr. Saif Ahmed Darwish, Community Medical Physician, and Dr. Hassan Shouri, Consultant of Infection Diseases.

The presentation, held at the Rashid Hospital auditorium on August 19, was attended by over 300 professionals from Dubai's hotels and hotel apartments and it would be followed by another presentation for the tourism companies. 
 
The event was attended by Mr. Ibrahim Yaqoot, DTCM Executive Director Corporate Support, and Mr. Khalid bin Touq, DTCM Executive Director Licensing and Classification, Dr. Ali Al Sayed, Director of Pharmaceutical  Services Department, DHA, and Ms. Ameera Jokhadar Head of Tourism Industry Relations at DTCM.
 
At the outset, Mr. Khalid bin Touq welcomed the attendees and thanked the DHA for their prompt response to DTCM's request to hold the presentation as part the efforts to increase awareness about the disease and to safeguard public health.
 
The presentation included history of the disease, method of transmission of disease, how to handle infected patients and prevention from the disease.
 
The attendees were presented with literature in English about the H1N1 flue and hints on prevention of the disease.
 
DHA officials said the World Health Organisation (WHO), on June 11, declared the new strain of H1N1 as a global pandemic and by August 4 the numbers of confirmed swine flu cases in 18 Arab countries reached 2187 and seven deaths were reported.
 
Speaking about the current prevention strategies of swine flu in the UAE, they said committees were created to counter the threat of swine flu, increase public awareness about the flu epidemic and creation of swine flu management committees at DHA and Ministry of Health (MoH) levels.
 
About 30,000 swine flu information leaflets have been distributed in the UAE.
 
As many as 38 thermal detectors have been installed in airports and entry points in the UAE at a cost of AED7.5 million.
 
They said passengers are not restricted from travelling to any destination as long as they adhere to the necessary precautions.
 
The UAE has a stock of five million capsules of Tamiflu. Vaccines that help prevent swine flu will arrive to the UAE in September.