15 replies to this topic

[george]

Kingdom must get ready for flu pandemic: official

BANGKOK: -- The country must speed up preparations for battling a global influenza pandemic that will probably be sparked by a mutating avian virus, the Public Health Ministry warned.

Thailand is already behind the rest of the world in preparation and it could be caught napping unless it takes immediate action, Disease Control Department senior official Dr Supamit Chunsuttiwat said.

As many as 26 million people in Thailand could be sickened by the flu and more than a quarter of a million could die, he said.

To mitigate the effects of a pandemic, government agencies and the private sector must be ready and aware of their responsibilities in the event a pandemic strikes.

"To be honest, right now only the government - actually, to be precise, only the Public Health Ministry - is ready to any degree for a pandemic," he said. Singapore, Korea and the United States and European-Union nations have been holding national exercises. Thailand has held only ministerial-level and provincial health-office exercises, Supamit explained.

A ministerial pandemic-preparedness exercise is planned for next month

There are no plans for a national-level exercise, Medical Services Department chief Chatri Banchuin said.

But what can be done is to ensure hospitals are ready to deal with a flood of patients struck by the flu and other sectors pushed to make preparations, he said.

"In this regard, Bangkok is of particular concern. It's too complicated to manage a pandemic in Bangkok, Chatri said.

The ministry was talking with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administra-tion.

Because of its dense population the capital needs to be divided and a pandemic managed by parts, Chatri explained. Bird flu is expected to spread to Australia and North and South America given its current pattern. The avian virus is present in about half of all countries and is being carried by migratory birds, Supamit said.

"If it occurs soon we can mitigate the impact of a pandemic with good preparedness. But, if it does not happen soon, or is not that virulent, preparations will not have been a waste because we will be ready to deal with other emerging diseases, too," he said.

--The Nation 2007-02-15

[Martin]

Clustering in cities does have a flip side, too.

[Scott]

The idea of a pandemic in Bangkok is particularly scary.  Given the track record at being able to manage things (such as traffic, pollution etc.), I don't think the outcome would be very good.

[helicoptor]

Worrying news indeed although I would guess - as usual - Thais will be slow to react

[Prakanong]

Some countries are more ready than others but Thailand is way behind according to info that I have.

The first 6 months of vaccine production is probably already bought by the likes of US, UK and Switzerland.

[PhilHarries]

george, on 2007-02-15 10:54:04, said:

"To be honest, right now only the government - actually, to be precise, only the Public Health Ministry - is ready to any degree for a pandemic," he said. Singapore, Korea and the United States and European-Union nations have been holding national exercises. Thailand has held only ministerial-level and provincial health-office exercises, Supamit explained.

A ministerial pandemic-preparedness exercise is planned for next month

Are these "ministerial level excercises" the one's where they rapidly don one of those little white masks, rush to their chauffer driven limos that whisks them to the airport for a flight to an urgent meeting in Burmuda?

[Prakanong]

The UK has a plan published I beleive.

Our company has a plan produced and I have been to meetings where it has been discussed and who will get the vaccine first

The vaccine works fro H5N1 but there are a few new trials starting soon including Thailand.

[PhilHarries]

Tried to edit my last respose but must've done something wrong 'cos it didn't work.

Forgot to add:-

Because if they are, the ministers have to remember that in a real emergency they'll be stuck behind the limos from the British Embassy.

[Martin]

It is actually very hard to see how things would pan out in a pandemic.

All this is about medical treatment, but there is a strong possibility of food distribution simply collapsing, if people decide that the way to avoid human-to-me (the food distributor)  transmission is simply for me (the food distributor) to keep away from all other humans. But if me (the food distributor) does so, there's going to be big hunger amogst people in places that depend on their food being brought to them and distributed within them.

Commerce could come near to a halt, too, if all the bank workers stay at home to avoid human-to-me (the bank worker) contact, and the ATMs get emptied and not re-filled.

Scary.

In that case, the best-placed will be those who can live, till it has run its course, from what they have in store in their rice barn and growing in their garden.

It is noticeable that there is no record of pandemics before cities grew very big. Things like AIDs and bird flu would have happened, but their effects would only have wiped out a relatively few people in a limited area.

Incidentally, I think that politicians and members of the diplomatic service would have a bit more 'nous' than to try to get on an aeroplane and spend hours and hours in close proximity to all those other humans. Such limos would more likely be loaded with tents and camping food and heading for the hills!

[Prakanong]

Well obvioulsy essential workers will get the drugs and vaccine first Tamiflu and Relenza as anti-virals plus the vaccine.

So you will have food workers, security (internal and external) health care workers and many others getting priority (plus the employees of pharma company's and their immediate families)

[kmart]

Basically, if a pandemic like that occured, on that scale of infection; you are buggered (this is not a medical term).

Spanish flu decimated Europe in the early 20th Century. Interesting link, if I may?-
Spanish Flu vs Bird Flu?

Scary how the Spanish version affected the strong.....

[John K]

I saw an article about a week ago and I was pondering on posting it. They talked about that virus had changed enough that some places in the nose would now serve as point of entry, and not only deep in the respiratory system. That is most certainly a step in the wrong direction.

[britmaveric]

Not much can be done until it jumps - least vaccine wise.

[tuky]

Quote

"In this regard, Bangkok is of particular concern. It's too complicated to manage a pandemic in Bangkok, Chatri said.

This is a scary statement.

Sent to the 'Too hard basket'.

[ollyrosee]

they need to get the wandering poultry under lock and key ,any village has the lot strolling around cheek by jowl with the fighting cocks ,wild birds dogs cats and buffalos. the scenario is set for a rapid escalation if it mutates, then it could hit the big ciites fast .

[wazza11]

it's still not contagious human to human, is it?