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Training in disease outbreak management skills held

The workshop was aimed at developing the capacity and practical skills among the healthcare entities and professionals involved in disease outbreak situations to focus on practical aspects of outbreak management.

The four-day workshop was an intense training involving surveillance, outbreak detection and investigation, media communication, risk mapping and social immobilisation covering four case studies (real life scenarios) to involve the participants in actively analysing, reporting and making decisions in averting or managing outbreak scenarios. “The HAAD is responsible for leading emirate-wide emergency preparedness efforts on behalf of the health system and management of the 24/7 Operations Centre.

The training is a proactive measure that we are working on to improve the emirate’s preparedness in case of any disease outbreak,” Dr Omniyat Al Hajri, Director of the Public Health and Policy at HAAD, said. The course was structured to train participants from different sectors including the Ministry of Health, Dubai Health Authority, National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA), Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the Abu Dhabi Food and Control Authority (ADFCA).

The participants’ selection was based on the assumption that a multidisciplinary ‘Investigation Team’ would be formed in case of an eminent outbreak. The team would be responsible for outbreak readiness, conducting epidemiological investigation and applying containment measures.

“The workshop includes practical training sessions about preparedness and response to health disasters and emergencies in addition to practical sessions about infection control procedures.

The participation of representatives from different sectors will facilitate the coordination of effects to control communicable diseases in emergencies and disasters,” remarked Dr Idris Al Obaidani, Director of Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control from Oman Ministry of Health. According to HAAD statistics, 21,373 notifications were received for infectious diseases in 2011 compared to 14,400 notifications in 2010 and 13,388 notifications in 2009. The HAAD launched the electronic system for notification of infectious diseases in 2010 and made it mandatory for all healthcare providers in the emirate to report suspected or confirmed infectious diseases electronically.

“This improved the timeliness and the completeness of the reported data which helped in early detection of outbreaks in the community,” said Dr Farida Al Hosani, Manager of Communicable Disease Department at HAAD.

Out of total notifications received last year, 667 notifications where for food-borne illness. The HAAD conducted a detailed investigation in each case. The cases that have one common source or have eaten from one suspected place were reported to the Abu Dhabi food Control Authority to investigate further.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE