Twelve hundred male and female doctors will be on hand to implement Ministry of Education plans to combat swine flu (H1N1) in schools with the beginning of the new academic year for intermediate and secondary schools, according to Dr. Sulaiman Al-Shehri, Director of Medical Services in the Ministry of Education and Chairman of the Scientific Committee in the ministry for combating swine flu. He said 700 male and female doctors from the school health units supported by 500 male and female interns from Saudi universities would be in the field to implement the ministry's anti-H1N1 program. Al-Shehri said, “An operations room has been set up in the Ministry of Education to receive queries and answer all questions on the swine flu pandemic from educationists, students and their guardians.” He said the ministry has laid down a plan for the vaccination of students, adding that vaccination would not be compulsory. A letter will be sent to the guardians of students, who total over five million in all stages of education, to request their consent before students are vaccinated. This will take place after the vaccines arrive in the Kingdom, he said. Meanwhile, the General Administration for Boys' Education in the Riyadh Region has completed preparations for combating swine flu, as it has provided numerous requirements needed by schools for protection from the disease. Abdul Kareem Al-Nasser, Director of Purchases in the Administration, said in line with the directives of Dr. Abdul Aziz Bin Muhammad Al-Debayyan, Director General of Education, the Administration has provided all government schools in the Riyadh region with 1000 temperature measuring devices, 4000 gallons of hand sanitizing liquid, 12,000 bags of facial tissues, 6000 garbage bins, 1.3 million plastic cups, 12,000 gallons of liquid soap, 29,500 medical face masks, 10,000 temperature measuring funnels, and 12,600 liquid soap steel and plastic containers, besides numerous other medical requirements. He added that the total cost of these materials was almost SR 4 million.
