Kuwait has ordered 2 million H1N1 flu vaccines, and by the first week of November there will be 45,000 shots distributed in the state, said Dr Ahmed Al-Shatti, Consultant Public Health, Ministry of Interior.
Al-Shatti was talking at a symposium titled ‘Fighting H1N1 flu, shared responsibility,’ organized by the Western Perception of Islam Center, Grand Mosque, Thursday.
Al-Shatti noted that in the first week of November about 2,000 healthcare professionals and 25,000 Hajj pilgrims will be administered the vaccine. “Before the end of 2009, about 2 million people in Kuwait will have received the immunization shots.”
The consultant stressed that though the shots will be made available to everyone in Kuwait with due orders from well known pharmaceutical companies like Novartis, “considering the fact that the epidemic is not very virulent as the number of fatalities is very low, it will not be made compulsory. However, we will make it available to all.
“The high risk group such as aged people, very young children and people suffering from chronic diseases such diabetes, hypertension and so on will be given priority for vaccination.

“Anybody, expatriate or citizen, can go to the public health centers in their respective areas and take the vaccine.”
When asked if the vaccines will be distributed through the private hospitals, Al-Shatti said such a prospect is not on the agenda as of now.
The consultant said the world has overreacted to the epidemic because it’s an unknown strain. The virulence of the epidemic does not deserve this kind of reaction, he added. To back his point, he quoted some statistics saying there have only been 11 deaths in Kuwait in the last six months, since the outbreak of the epidemic.
“Deaths due to normal influenza viruses are more every year than H1N1 flu. The risks from chronic non-communicable diseases due to lifestyle defects far outweigh the risk posed by H1N1 flu.”
“Yet, out of 100 Kuwaitis, 81 take less fruits than the required level for a healthy life, 75 are overweight, 38 have cholesterol, 20 are smokers, 20.5 have hypertension, 12.4 have diabetes, 2 are alcoholic and 20 have at least 3 risk factors

“Worldwide, more than 5.5 million die every year due to smoking alone,” he added.
Pointing out some of the reasons for the disproportionate reaction to the epidemic across the world, Al-Shatti said, “this is a new strain, and human immune systems are unfamiliar with it to fight it. This made healthcare experts very alert because they did not want a repeat of pandemics in the recent past such as Hong Kong flu, when millions succumbed to the virulent outbreak.
“World Health Organization (WHO) kept the alert level at 5 out of 6, and then later raised it to level 6, which caused more panic. However, these alert levels are only reflective of the rate of spread and not the degree of virulence.
“The virus was spreading fast across borders, starting from Mexico and within months spreading to North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and other places. By August of this year there were 18,000 cases of swine flu in 170 countries.”

Al-Shatti, however, stressed that only a negligible percentage of these infected cases were fatal, while the rest of them recovered. In healthy people the flu subsides even if untreated.
“However, we ask people showing symptoms to consult a doctor at the earliest to be on the safer side.” As a general advice to the people the health consultant said that if infected with swine flu, “do not expose yourself much by leaving your home. Treat it like a normal seasonal flu, avoiding close contact with others. Do not treat yourself.
“We have not made the availability of Tamiflu very liberal, because it might become ineffective if used in an ill advised manner.”
Following Al-Shatti’s lecture, Sheikh Musaed Al-Sane gave the Islamic perspective on flu and communicable diseases. He covered topics like what light the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet (PBUH) sheds on epidemics. Traditional Islamic approach to pandemics and some of the age-old treatment methods were also handled.

Arab Times