Windhoek — AS the number of confirmed H1N1 flu cases in Namibia rose to 17 yesterday, Government confirmed that it is only waiting for the World Health Organisation to finally approve vaccines against the virus before securing a supply for Namibia.
Health Minister Dr Richard Kamwi told The Namibian yesterday afternoon that there is no reason why Namibia should be left out of a programme to receive vaccines once the WHO has given its okay.
WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan, on a visit to Tanzania, on Sunday, repeated her promise that the organisation will ensure that developing countries receive supplies of vaccines against H1N1 when it is available, Reuters has reported.
Dr Chan said that France's Sanofi-Aventis and Britain's GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical companies had pledged to donate 150 million and 50 million doses respectively to the developing world.
Confirmed Influenza A (H1N1) cases in Namibia have increased from ten last Wednesday to 17 by yesterday morning.
The new cases include three patients at Rehoboth -a boy of 15, a registered nurse working at the town's H1N1 clinic and a man in his forties - Dr Jack Vries, Chairman of the National Health Emergency Management Committee (NHEMC), said yesterday.
Two new cases were also confirmed at Swakopmund, namely a woman (19) and another pupil of the Swakopmund Secondary School.
Furthermore, a woman (36) at Gobabis was diagnosed with the flu virus, as was a male employee of De Beers Marine Namibia (DBMN) at Oranjemund.
In a statement, the company said that the employee came on board a mining vessel on August 4, following a 28-day shore-leave period. After two days on board, he started showing H1N1 symptoms and was flown off the vessel together with another colleague who also showed similar symptoms.
DBMN Manager Christine du Plessis said the worker was screened and tests were sent away. He recovered, was declared fit for duty and transported back to the vessel. Meanwhile, his test came back positive.
"He was subsequently flown off the vessel and is currently in the hospital at Oranjemund for observation," Du Plessis said. The worker's colleague and others tested negative for the virus, she said.
Du Plessis said DBMN introduced a H1N1 policy, procedure and response plan well in advance. In addition to information, all employees and visitors undergo mandatory basic screening tests for H1N1-like symptoms before they board vessels. On the vessels, they are monitored daily.
"Emergency preparedness exercises, including for contagious disease outbreaks, are carried out on a regular basis to test our readiness and effectiveness of the medical evacuation procedure and the various emergency services' responses," she said.
Meanwhile, the WHO's Dr Chan warned that the world must remain on its guard against Influenza A. It has been mild so far, but could become more serious as the northern hemisphere heads into winter, the WHO head said.
Pregnant women and people with underlying medical conditions are particularly vulnerable, she said. The latest information brings the number of confirmed H1N1 flu cases in the Hardap Region to six, making it the region that has been hit the hardest since flu broke out in the middle of July. The Erongo Region follows with four confirmed cases at Swakopmund.
The Khomas Region has three confirmed cases in Windhoek to date, while two people have been diagnosed positively at Gobabis in the Omaheke Region. Karas and Otjozondjupa each has one confirmed case, at Oranjemund and Ovitoto respectively.
Sapa reports that 3 485 people in South Africa have tested positively for H1N1, with six virus-related deaths recorded. Worldwide, at least 177 000 people have caught the disease and at least 1 462 have died, according to the WHO.
The WHO declared 'swine flu' a full pandemic in June.
