CAIRO, May 3 (KUNA) -- The Executive Office of Arab Health Ministers is due to hold an emergency meeting in Riyadh Tuesday to discuss developments and measures regarding the recent outbreak of swine flu, an Arab League statement reported on Sunday.
The statement said the ministers are to discuss human and technical resources which could be deployed in each state and which could be deployed to aid affected Arab states. They are also to discuss exchange of information and transparency on all developments in this regard.
The statement stressed the importance of efforts to boost awareness and added the Arab League Secretariat is to request a meeting at headquarters to draft a joint Arab plan to counter the outbreak and guarantee adequate food and drug supplies in case of a pandemic.
The Arab Health Emergency Committee meeting is also urged to plan a future strategy for similar situations, which ought to include early warning mechanisms, guarantees of supplies, and suitable quarantine measures, it was added.
The meeting on Tuesday is to be attended by representatives of the host state and of Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, and Algeria, who are the member states of the executive council.
The regional director of the World Health Organization for the Middle East is also to attend the meeting.(end) mfm.wsa KUNA 031404 May 09NNNN