Saudi Arabia hasn’t registered any Ebola cases so far, and the Ministry of Health is following up on any suspected case, Dr. Tamara Tayeb, leader of the team to combat Ebola, said here recently.
Al-Tayeb said that the control center in the Ministry of Health depends on several factors to face any health threat from infectious diseases. They include prevention and preparedness, monitoring and increasing the capacity of lab work, control of infections and speedy treatment and control of infected cases. “This is done through coordination among various sectors inside the country,” she said.
She said that the team works to fight infectious diseases in the community and health facilities of both the general health agency and health directorates in the Kingdom where government budgets are allocated according to demographic distribution and the availability of health facilities in the provinces.
She added that the ministry has allocated three centers to fight infections in Saudi Arabia which is the global procedure recommended by the World Health Organization. According to her, each virus has to be dealt with differently with respect to the nature of the disease, ways of infection and kinds of precautions and their treatment.
The ministry is coordinating with other ministries such as the Agriculture and Municipal and Rural Affairs to control infectious diseases such as Swine flu, MERS Coronavirus, Ebola and Rift Valley Fever. It is also carrying out awareness campaigns to educate citizens and residents about the diseases, precautions and treatments which have had a significant impact on the control of these diseases, Al-Tayeb said.
A delegation from the WHO visited Saudi Arabia to view the latest preparations to face Ebola, which is clear evidence of the volume and effectiveness of this coordination.
Arab News
