Prime Minister directs anti-swine measures in Laos

Prime Minister directs anti-swine measures in Laos

(KPL) Because the swine flu alert of WHO could possibly reach level six anytime, the Lao Government is on the alert, so that it is now carrying out surveillance measures at the border checkpoints and international airports.
The Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, called an emergency meeting last week and decisions were made during this meeting to prevent the entry of swine flu to Laos.
PM Bouasone ordered all ministries, relevant agencies, Vientiane Capital and all the other provinces of Laos to carry out preventive measures against the spread of swine flu.
He also said that the Ministry of Health is being assigned the task of using cutting edge health check technology on this problem and also to closely monitor the health of tourists who were heading for Laos at the various immigration cross-border checkpoints and airports.
In connection with this the Civil Aviation Department had prepared to install disease inspection machines in all the international airports in the country.
At the same time, the Prime Minister said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was tasked to monitor the diseases of animals, especially pigs by carrying out a strict regime of inspection of animals at all the cross border checkpoints.
He also said he had ordered the two ministries to work in close cooperation with one another and to provide daily and weekly reports to the government so that it can give up to date assessments on the swine flu situation in Laos.
While the Lao tourism industry is already suffering because of the global economic turmoil but with the recent outbreak of the swine flu she is getting a double blow and its implication in the local context is that the large number of Lao people who depended on the tourism industry for a living would be making less money than they normally do.