MINISTRY OF HEALTH OF KINGDOM OF SAUDIA ARABIA STAKEHOLDER BRIEFING ON MERS RISK ASSESSMENT POLICY AND GUIDANCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For additional information contact: Jeannette Berczi, 520-818-9222
MINISTRY OF HEALTH OF KINGDOM OF SAUDIA ARABIA
STAKEHOLDER BRIEFING ON MERS RISK ASSESSMENT
POLICY AND GUIDANCE
Los Angeles, CA – On June 16, 2013, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) held a formal briefing for Infection Control practitioners, Engineering and Environmental support services to present the Risk Assessment framework and mobilization of temporary Airborne Infectious Isolation Room (AIIR) equipment designed for rapid deployment of both confirmed patients and those classified under investigation (PUI) for infection with MERS CoronaVirus. All pertinent department heads of MOH hospitals were required to attend this conference.
This briefing presented the KSA risk assessment for CoronaVirus and is a follow-on from the WHO EMRO consultation held June 4-9 in Riyadh. During that visit, Keiji Fukuda, assistant director of the WHO’s Health Security and Environment said KSA has taken the CoronaVirus issue very seriously and has initiated various campaigns to put control measures in place.
The WHO published its updated Pandemic Influenza Risk Management on June 10, 2013 wherein it noted that Advance planning and preparedness is critical to help mitigate the impact of a pandemic. The upcoming Hajj pilgrimage of over 2.5 million pilgrims converging on Mecca and Medina presents the most vital need to prepare.
Los Angeles based Mintie Technologies, Inc (MTI) has been mobilized in KSA to provide mobile isolation for hospitals receiving suspected patients with CoronaVirus. The Directorate General of Health Affairs from the MOH in the Eastern Region, the original epicenter of the MERS cluster outbreaks, has been acting as liaison for Mintie for the hospitals in the region.
Mintie has presented the technical briefing at the two conferences undertaken to date. The company also developed the clinical isolation systems following the SARS episode in 2003. The system allows hospitals to respond immediately under heightened “life and death” alerts.
Mintie is a third generation, family owned and operated business since 1940. For additional details on the company, please visit www.mintie.com.
