H1N1 causes panic in Sanaa

SANAA, Dec.23 (YPA) – The swine flu epidemic(H1N1) has spread over the past months very quickly, leaving Yemeni families in a state of panic.

However, citizens’ voices are rising, complaining about the failure of health authorities to cope with the epidemic, which kills dozens every day.

The Ministry of Health, through its official spokesman, had advised citizens not to fear the disease and said that the panic was exaggerated.

On the other hand, Minister of Health Dr. Taha Al Mutawakil, announced the emergency of the maximum readiness in all hospitals in the capital Sanaa to receive cases of H1N1 virus.
This revealed a clear official contradiction about the epidemic and how to deal with it.

According to the National Centre for Epidemiological Surveillance in the capital Sanaa, 25 suspected cases were recorded on December 21st, eight death have been reported.

Thirty-one cases were recorded on December 22nd, of which 4 deaths and there are rapid statistics from a number of provinces, some of which have not been monitored by official authorities.

Citizens complain that hospitals do not take patients seriously and refuse to receive suspected cases on the pretext of fear of transmission to other patients who are infected, which led many observers to question the work of these hospitals as long as they are afraid to receive patients.

They further simultaneously asked: Are they waiting for patients to recover and reserve their wings for housing and tourism?

Moreover, the price of medical checks in private laboratories has reached 30,000 riyals, which is an imaginary price that not all patients can afford to pay, while it is supposed to be free as a serious epidemic that cannot be compromised in its treatment and cannot be faced without the assistance of the state and the private sector.

E.M