The National Steering Committee on Influenza in Humans convened an urgent meeting in Hanoi on April 28 to provide guidance on preventive measures to combat swine flu type A (H1N1).

As the virus spreads in Mexico, the US and other countries across the world, the World Health Organisation has raised the swine flu alert to level four out of five, as it is now recognised that the virus can be transmitted from human-to-human.

The WHO has warned Vietnam of the high-risk of swine flu spreading and mutating because of the number of people entering and leaving the country.

At the meeting, Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu asked the supervision sub-committee to work with the WHO and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) to keep a close watch on the changes in swine and bird flu at home and abroad to supply effective guidance.

At the same time, it will draw up detailed plans to quarantine suspected cases, prepare isolation rooms at border gates and take the necessary preventive measures for passengers entering Vietnam from affected countries.

More thermal scanners should be put into use in Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai international airports to strictly monitor passengers and discover suspected cases as soon as possible, said Minister Trieu, who is also head of the steering committee.

The treatment sub-committee was asked to collaborate with local experts and specialists from the WHO and USCDC to put together a treatment plan for patients infected with swine flu.

The minister asked the Clinical Institute of Tropical Diseases to hold training courses on methods of treating swine flu for health personnel.

He also asked all related agencies and organisations to publicise all the information they have on measures to prevent swine flu as well as instruct people on how to use pork safely.

The Ministry of Health has handed over 34 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test kits to a number of localities and provided more than 1,000 respiratory machines to hospitals nationwide to cope with the possible pandemic.

The capital city of Hanoi decided on April 28 to spend 6 billion VND on swine flu prevention./.