June 27, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 30, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, June 26: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday constituted a joint steering committee for the prevention and control of avian and pandemic influenza. Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan and Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan had been asked to preside over the committee, a government announcement on Monday said. The committee will meet on quarterly basis.

HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER: The federal health ministry has asked the provincial health authorities to maintain surveillance following reports of increase in the number of viral haemorrhagic fever cases in Karachi.

The provincial authorities have been asked to implement strict infection control measures. The executive director of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre has been asked to activate the working group set up in this regard to monitor the situation.

The National Malaria Control Programme has been asked to make prompt interventions for the containment of the disease.

A team of the NIH, the health ministry and the World Health Organisation will visit Karachi soon to investigate and monitor the situation.