The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) will represent Qatar at a meeting of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) executive board in Saudi Arabia  tomorrow to discuss the latest updates on the spread of the killer Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

Precautionary measures that could be unanimously adopted by the GCC countries to prevent the spread of the EVD are to be contemplated at the meeting, according to information provided in Doha yesterday by the SCH.

A meeting will be organised  at the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) tomorrow for medical personnel on measures to fight the disease and  expand on the National Plan for preparations and response to combat Ebola virus.

At a meeting in Doha on Sunday, hosted by the SCH, the status of the EVD and the degree of the risks involved were reviewed.

Both public and private stakeholders and partners, including the Primary Health Care Corporation, Ambulances Service and Qatar Airways, attended.

The officials discussed the evaluation of the degree of risk posed by the Ebola virus and the necessary precautionary measures such as detecting and reporting suspected cases and follow up of the cases that had direct contact with infected or potential cases.

The meeting further stressed the earlier recommendation issued by the SCH to avoid travelling to the countries that are still experiencing the spread of the disease and periodically updating the public on the situation and the procedures taken at all levels.

Other issues dealt with at the meeting include the requirement of laboratory confirmation of the suspected cases, treatment and  isolation of infected cases at the HMC and other health facilities in the country, and supply of self-protection equipment and tools, especially for medical staff most at the risk of infection, besides spreading awareness among expatriates and locals on the ways of preventing the EVD. 

The roles and technical duties of each entity were determined during the meeting according to the National Plan which entails raising the awareness of medical personnel on the necessity of abiding by the standard procedures to fight the spread of the disease.

The SCH continues to take all  necessary procedures to face the risks of  Ebola  and any potential infections in collaboration with all its partners according to the approved plan.

Up to August 8, the total number of EVD cases reported worldwide  amounted to 1,779 cases, including 961 fatalities. Further, 68 infected cases and 20 deaths resulting from the disease were reported in Guinea, Liberia, Serra Leone and Nigeria, the SCH added.

Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos has 10 confirmed cases of Ebola, up from seven at the last count, and two patients have died, including the Liberian who brought the virus in, the country’s health minister said yesterday.

All were people who had had direct contact with Patrick Sawyer, who collapsed on arrival at Lagos airport on July 25 and later died, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has hosted a meeting in Geneva to discuss the ethics of using experimental drugs. 

Liberia, where Ebola has already claimed over almost 370 lives, placed a third province, Lofa, under quarantine yesterday after similar measures in Bomba and Grand Cape Mount. 

“From now on, no one will be allowed to go to Lofa, no one will come out of there,” President Ellen Johnson Sirfleaf said. “We want to protect areas that have not been yet affected.”

There is currently no available cure or vaccine for Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, and with the death toll fast approaching 1,000, the WHO has declared the latest outbreak a global public health emergency.

But the use of experimental drugs has opened up an intense ethical debate, and medical experts from around the world joined WHO-hosted discussions yesterday to draft guidelines for using non-authorised medicines in emergencies such as Ebola.

Two Americans and a Spanish priest infected with the virus while working with the sick in Africa are being treated with an untested drug called ZMapp, which has reportedly shown promising results.

But the drug, made by private US company Mapp Pharmaceuticals, is still in an extremely early phase of development.

Ebola causes fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding, and can be fatal in 25 to 90% of cases, according to the WHO. 

 

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