Friday, March 19, 2010

Gambians Urged To Be Wary Of Swine Flu

As Senegal Confirms H1N1 Outbreak

NEWS BANJUL THE GAMBIA(MB)-Essa Khan Executive Director of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) has called on the people to be careful not to expose themselves to swine flu.
He said this following the confirmation of an outbreak of swine flu in Touba, Senegal, where many Gambian Muslims have gone recently to participate in the annual gathering in honour of Serign Touba Mbakeh.
Speaking at the official opening of the two-day training of trainers’ workshop on Humanitarian Pandemic Preparedness (H2P), held at the Dunes Hotel from 10th to 11th February 2010 Mr. Khan expressed worry that those who had gone to Touba could not be shut out of the country, thus there is a need for the country to revitalise its plans to avert an outbreak in the country.
According to him, both Senegal and The Gambia are contiguous, and an outbreak in any of the two countries could have effects on the other. He said this calls for a more collaborative approach between the two countries to tackle the situation.
Speaking of the H2P workshop, Mr. Khan said:
“We at the NDMA recognize the importance of this training, because the pandemic is a global issue that needs urgent attention.
Epidemics affect all parts of society. The training is crucial, since after the training, the trainees will be tasked to disseminate the information gained here to the entire nation, by replicating the process with other people in the various communities.

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