Thanks to a media awareness campaign conducted by the Ministry of Health people have started to show up at health care centers in the capital for H1N1 shots, said officials at health care centers here. Dr. Farooq Ahmad, specialist in chest diseases working at a Ministry of Health hospital here, said people have been educated by the information disseminated by the media about the dangers of infection with the swine flu virus and the benefits that the H1N1 vaccine offers. Moreover, the MoH decision to make the swine flu vaccine available at all primary health care centers (PHCs) and other health care institutions this week has provided people with easy access to the vaccine and created a better understanding about this new health problem, he said. “While people earlier were skeptical about the side effects of the swine flu vaccine and used to ask many questions, it now seems they have realized the danger of not protecting themselves against H1N1,” said Ahmad. He said that people have begun to realize the importance of the vaccine as a result of media reports which quoted MoH officials including Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah as stressing the safety of the swine flu vaccine. Dr. Al-Rabeah and his eight-year-old daughter Hana Al-Rabeah were the first to be inoculated at the launch of the National Swine Flu Vaccination Campaign. This served to boost people's confidence, Ahmad said. He said the number of H1N1 cases at his hospital, the first center designated to treat people with H1N1 infections, has dropped substantially. Another doctor working at Shumaisy Hospital confirmed that there has been a significant decrease in the number of swine flu cases. The number of swine flu cases reported daily at the hospital has dropped to around 125 compared with 400 to 500 just two months ago, the doctor said requesting anonymity. “With this drop in the number of swine flu cases, it appears to me that the H1N1 problem is well under control in Riyadh,” he said. However, he attributed the reduction in the number of H1N1 cases to a number of reasons including the Health Ministry's concerted efforts, the launch of the national swine flu vaccination campaign, and the vaccine being made available at all PHCs and other health care institutions. He said the Ministry of Health has effectively highlighted the safety of the H1N1 vaccine saying that one in 1,000 people inoculated developed neurological complications. Moreover, he pointed out that there are 12 H1N1 treatment centers in Riyadh alone. Any person who visits the hospital with a high fever and other flu symptoms is treated for swine flu even before a sample is sent for testing to confirm the presence of the H1N1 virus, he said. This has resulted in the speedy recovery of over 99 percent of patients infected with swine flu, he added. “The doctors at these centers are advised to treat patients immediately rather than wait for H1N1 swab test results, which has yielded good results,” he said.
