July 27,2022
THE Ministry of Health held a coordination meeting on COVID-19 and Monkeypox, which have been recognized as international public health emergencies, yesterday morning in Nay Pyi Taw.
At the meeting, Union Minister Dr Thet Khaing Win said that although Myanmar is currently in a position to control the wave of the COVID-19 disease, infections of the two variants of COVID-19, BA.4 and BA.5, are spreading to countries around the world. It has been found that there is an increase in regional countries and neighbouring countries. BA.4 and BA.5 were found to have low disease severity and low mortality but high infection rates, and prevention and control activities, and Genomic Sequencing needs to be continued at a rapid pace, he said.
At this time, as the rate of infection among those returning from foreign countries is increasing, it is necessary to prepare for the guidelines related to the inspection of the COVID-19 disease and to speed up the disease control activities, and at the same time, it is necessary to consider not to affect the socio-economic life of the public.
As seasonal flu and monkeypox prevention methods are similar in nature to COVID-19 disease prevention methods, it is important to follow the disease prevention regulations that must be followed by individuals, he stressed.
Monkeypox has spread to non-endemic countries and was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization on 23 July. According to the WHO Risk Assessment, Myanmar has not yet been found to be affected by the disease, so it is included in the group (1). He said preparations are being made to prevent the spread of disease through foreign countries.
As cases of monkeypox have been found in the neighbouring countries that have a lot of interaction with Myanmar, such as India, Thailand, and Singapore, there is a special need for related departments to cooperate with the Ministry of Health on the prevention and control of monkeypox. He said that he is working to connect with the WHO and the ASEAN to obtain the vaccine against the disease.
Afterwards, officials from the Central Infectious Disease Control Division of the Department of Public Health, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Immigration and Population and the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism explained the preparedness of their respective ministries and the activities to be cooperated with. Deputy Minister Dr Aye Tun supplemented the discussion and Union Minister Dr Thet Khaing Win concluded the meeting. — MNA
