The Health Authority Abu-Dhabi (HAAD) and Abu Dhabi Educational Council (ADEC) announced a joint comprehensive H1N1 action plan and protocols to prepare school management, staff, parents and students for the new school year.
The joint action plan includes a step-by-step description of all actions to be taken by school management, teachers, pupils, school nurses and parents. This includes instructions for schools and teachers to prevent the spread of flu, processes for initial management of students with symptoms of influenza-like illness, and instructions for parents to protect their children and family from flu.
Preparation kits encompass detailed risk management information and preparedness resources as well as fact sheets in Arabic and English for all schools, teachers, parents and students, developed for distribution. The fact sheets are also available on HAAD’s website.
H.E. Zaid Al Siksik, CEO of HAAD said: "ADEC and HAAD joined their forces to develop a comprehensive H1N1 action plan for the new school year, together we have designed detailed instructions and recommendations for schools, school staff, parents and students." "The joint action plans also covered training school staff and nurses in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain on how to identify influenza-like illnesses and deal with such cases. In addition HAAD and ADEC is jointly conducting training sessions and seminars and identified school, school staff parents and students outreach programs," Al Siksik added.
H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of ADEC said: "Schools and parents should be assured that ADEC and HAAD are working together to carefully monitor and control the spread of influenza-like illnesses in schools. Together with HAAD, we have developed a detailed action plan that considers all possible scenarios." "Preparation kits will be distributed to all public and private schools, and over 300 school nurses have already been trained in the process of initial management of students presenting with an influenza-like illness. HAAD and ADEC are also running ongoing training sessions for 2 representatives from each school, with 150 staff already trained in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain," Dr. Al Khaili added.
The HAAD and ADEC joint outreach program covers mandatory training for all schools, online outreach, usage of short message system (SMS), newsletters, posters and teacher trainings that have been designed to filter down to students.
Schools have been requested to notify ADEC of all diagnosed H1N1 cases by emailing a notification form to h1n1.notification@adec.ac.ae or faxing to: +9712 26150859.
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