The Director of the Health and vocational Control Department, Dr. Mervat Mheirat mentioned that the department is determined to complete the educational program on infectious diseases and the ways of prevention and protection, to include the whole capital.
She clarified that the program, which had been launched under the slogan "For a Healthy City" since the appearance of swine flu (H1N1), will be executed on stages; the first phase of which is identifying the disease and ways of protection against it.
As Dr. Mheirat mentioned, the program includes educational lectures for employees of Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) and all the local community strata through schools, societies, and establishments of both private and public sector. She stressed that the program is part of the department's role and goals to serve the local community, and increase the sanitary and environmental levels, to reach a healthy and sound environment.
She pointed out that about 3500 educational brochures have been distributed to 8 schools since the beginning of the program, 1000 students participating. It is expected that these brochures be distributed to 20 schools and communities by the end of this month.
The program has also used questionnaires related to the disease, to know the level of people's consciousness and knowledge about it. Primary statistical analyses revealed that awareness level had increased from 72% to 94%.
The lecture included a background on the history of swine flu (H1N1), its causes, symptoms, infection ways, and protection procedures, as well as necessary instructions on how to deal with infected people, and the importance of practicing healthy habits at school and home, to stop the spreading of the disease.
The lecturers stressed on the need of consolidating the efforts on official and public levels, to be able to face this disease and eliminate the possibilities of infection.
It is worth mentioning that the Department had organized, in cooperation with the Department of Cultural Affairs in GAM, a group of educational lectures about swine flu in different areas of the capital, and work is on going in regard to this issue.
In this context, there will be a new lecture on Saturday evening 9/10/2009 at 5:00, in the Skating Square of Al Hussein Gardens, as part of the awareness campaign launched by GAM against this dangerous flu.
© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
