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Ukraine pleas for help as flu epidemic spreads
Russia
Today
Monday, Nov 2nd, 2009
Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko has called
on the international community to help the country combat the
swine flu epidemic which hit the country last week. Kiev is
taking emergency measures to stop the outbreak.
Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko has called
on the international community to help the country combat the
swine flu epidemic which hit the country last week. Kiev is
taking emergency measures to stop the outbreak.
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Mixx Propeller The president has sent letters to the European
Commission, NATO’s Secretary General, and the heads of
Belarus, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the
US asking for humanitarian aid, said the presidential press
service. Ukraine needs antiviral medicine, medical masks, lung
ventilators and other equipment. Several countries have already
agreed to help, while Russia offered aid on its own initiative.
Ukrainian government has made an emergency purchase of Tamiflu
medicine from Switzerland. A shipment of 300 million doses,
worth $2.5 million, was airlifted on Sunday night. According
to the president’s press service, the seller offered a
discount price for Ukraine.
The medicine will be delivered to hospitals and medical emergency
service to treat flu patients. “We’ll have a double
or triple stock, but not in drug stores to prevent speculative
trade,” announced Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko. She
added that a second purchase of a similar amount of medicine
is being considered.
Meanwhile, the epidemic is spreading over the country. The
Health Ministry says 53 people have died over the last week
from flu and other respiratory diseases. Almost 185,000 people
are suffering, and more than 7,000 have been transferred to
hospitals. Of those, 123 are in critical condition.
It is not clear how many of the people affected have the A/H1N1
strain. Ukraine has too small a number of laboratories to be
able to identify the swine flu virus and has to rely on foreign
services, which makes the testing process even longer. The government
plans to purchase more equipment to monitor the epidemic more
efficiently. A mission of the World Health Organization is to
arrive in Ukraine soon to help combat the outbreak.
So far quarantine has been declared in nine regions that are
most affected by the disease. Schools and universities have
been closed until further notice, and people are advised to
stay at home and keep away from crowds.
There are some fears that the epidemic will harm the presidential
election campaign which is currently underway in Ukraine. The
election is scheduled for January 17, and with restrictions
on public assembly, which some politicians have suggested imposing
due to the outbreak, campaigning may become difficult for candidates.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Turchinov assured that
the outbreak will not stop the election. “Despite temporary
difficulties with the spread of the infection, the election
will go smoothly,” he said.
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