The Ministry of Health and Community Protection affirmed the forward-looking and proactive role played by the state, and the leadership’s directives regarding harnessing all capabilities and energies to limit the emergence and spread of epidemics, pointing out that it is making integrated efforts, in cooperation with all federal and local health and environmental authorities, in terms of developing guidelines, strategies and controls. necessary, and follow up on their implementation to prevent “dengue fever” and limit its spread.
The Ministry explained, in an official letter addressed to the Federal National Council, that it had taken four main precautionary measures to prevent “dengue fever”, the first of which was coordination with the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Municipalities to implement the One Health approach, including comprehensive and integrated management to deal with disease vectors, as the Ministry coordinates With those concerned to deal proactively and flexiblely to monitor and control disease vectors recommended by the World Health Organization, within the One Health approach, which emphasizes the importance of epidemiological surveillance for disease vectors, and is based on Federal Law No. (14) of 2014, regarding combating communicable diseases, in coordination and cooperation with All concerned authorities in the state (federal and local), due to the importance of the roles played by each of these authorities, and to ensure the integrity of services, each according to its specializations and scope of work.
The Ministry added that it is participating in the national campaign to combat mosquitoes with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and all strategic partners within the approach of integrated and comprehensive management of disease vectors, where the coordinates of the places where mosquitoes spread in the country have been documented, using “GPS” devices to facilitate the follow-up of the insect map and its development, and the National Program to Combat Mosquitoes. Malaria, municipalities and local concerned bodies.
She stated that the Emirates Health Services Corporation has appointed nine specialized teams to contribute to the national campaign to combat mosquitoes and eliminate “Aedes aegypti” for insect exploration distributed in the Northern Emirates, and supports the national campaign by providing an insect laboratory, specialized in diagnosing various mosquito samples, and conducting sensitivity and biological tests for pesticides, to study Its effectiveness in combating mosquitoes, to ensure the use of the best, most effective and safest for humans.
She pointed out that 1,200 entomological surveys of mosquitoes (Novelles and Aedes) were conducted, 309 mosquito DNA samples were analyzed in the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority laboratory, and 409 breeding sites for Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae were eliminated, among the activities of the national campaign.
The Ministry stated that the second measure is “health education and community awareness campaigns,” due to the importance of combating and getting rid of mosquitoes, the diseases they transmit, and methods of preventing mosquito bites, given the close connection between exposure to disease and the practices and behavior of community members, and health education programs have been implemented. Awareness campaigns are in Arabic and English, and include visual means using various methods and tools.
According to the Ministry, the third measure includes raising the efficiency of health workers and epidemiological surveillance of dengue fever cases, by raising the level of awareness among health workers about dengue fever, and the possibility of diagnosing it without a travel history through circulars issued by the Ministry, and emphasizing immediate electronic reporting of disease cases. For preventive medicine and public health units in all health authorities, to make decisions based on data in a rapid and comprehensive manner, and the importance of epidemiological surveillance and investigation of human cases, where the epidemiological investigation team, upon diagnosing an infection with the disease, lists the contacts and people in the vicinity of the infected person’s residence, to discover any other cases, And take the necessary action regarding it.
The Ministry concluded its response by saying that the fourth and final measure to prevent “dengue fever” includes “diagnosis and treatment,” where cases are diagnosed and treated in accordance with the latest global developments, and the laboratory diagnosis scheme for the disease is circulated, and the recommended procedures are circulated immediately upon diagnosis of the disease, and all health authorities are ensured to provide The necessary diagnostic and laboratory testing services within its facility, obtaining results within 24-48 hours, and following best practices in the field of treating cases, as all facilities of the Emirates Health Services Corporation are equipped and empowered to provide appropriate treatment services.
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