ISLAMABAD: A World Health Organization (WHO) mission, in Islamabad to assess the arrangements in place to stem the spread of the Ebola virus, visited different health departments and examined certain areas in the capital on Tuesday.

The team is in Pakistan for a week and it will visit airports, hospitals, laboratories and assess other arrangements to ascertain how a person affected with Ebola would be dealt with if he arrives in the country.

The Ebola outbreak of 2014 is the largest in history and has affected multiple countries. A total of 15,351 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola have been reported from six countries; Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Spain, and the United States of America, as well as and two previously affected countries, Nigeria and Senegal, as of November 18. There have been a total of 5,459 reported deaths.

A total of 588 health-care workers (HCWs) have been infected with the virus: 94 in Guinea; 341 in Liberia; two in Mali; 11 in Nigeria; 136 in Sierra Leone; one in Spain; two in the USA and 1 in Guinea, of whom 337 have died.

WHO Country Head Michel Thieren told Dawn said that some team members surveyed sites in the capital on Tuesday, while others left for Lahore to assess arrangements there.

“There are 22 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and WHO has been assuring that all countries’ arrangements are at par with required standards,” he said.

“The team is also assessing the coordination between different departments to deal with the situation and during or at the end of the visit, the team will make recommendations to health authorities,” he said.

“However, those recommendations will be technical and would be given to ensure that the virus would not enter the country or that it would not spread if the virus reached the country,” he said.

Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (Pims) Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram confirmed that the WHO team had visited his hospital.

“A two member team visited isolation wards, the pathology laboratory, radiology department and other areas to check the arrangements at the hospital,” he said.

Dr Akram said that he felt the team was satisfied because the hospital had already carried out all necessary arrangements as per WHO standard operating procedures.

Secretary of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) Ayub Sheikh told Dawn “Airlines have been instructed to inform airports if they are carrying a passenger who has travelled to the countries where the Ebola epidemic is currently raging. Flights have to make announcements just before landing and have to instruct passengers who have travelled to West Africa to report at the Ebola counter,” he said.

“Moreover, there are clear instructions that before the plane’s arrival, a team of health department officials will be on hand to receive flagged individuals. They will be scanned and allowed to proceed out of the airport after their contact details and addresses are obtained,” he said.

A coordination committee has also been established for every airport to maintain constant contact with the ministry and other concerned departments.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014