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Cabinet okays panel to combat bird flu

ABU DHABI — The UAE cabinet has given the nod for the formation of a national emergency panel to trace and combat bird flu disease besides adopting necessary measures to stall the pandemic from entering the country.

In its weekly meeting yesterday under the chairmanship of Shaikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, the cabinet also endorsed a Health Ministry memo on amendments to tables of narcotics as appended to Federal Law No. 14 of 1995.

A note by the Health Minister on the UAE joining the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was also endorsed.

The cabinet also endorsed a memo by the Labour Minister revising some articles of Cabinet Resolution No. 17 of 2001 to make social aid consistent with the President's gesture that led to it’s increase by 75 per cent effective October 1.

The minimum limit of social aid, save that is payable to financially incapable, is revised as follows: Dh2190 monthly for an eligible individual.

However, for families, the aid will be disbursed in the following manner: Dh2190 for the breadwinner, Dh 1315 for the second person in the family, Dh 660 for the third and others without setting a ceiling on the number of family members.

In the event of a single member family living in a separate place, he shall be paid an allowance of Dh 660.

In the case of financially incapable, a monthly amount of Dh1095 shall be disbursed. As for families, Dh1095 shall be paid to the breadwinner, Dh550 to the second member of the family, Dh550 to the third, Dh275 to the fourth, Dh275 to the fifth and Dh660 to the sixth and others with no maximum number of members being fixed.

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