Travelers must checkup for swine flu after coming abroad

From left: Dr. Sok Touch, Director of Communicable Disease Control Department of Cambodia’s Health Ministry, his deputy Dr. Ly Sovann , UNICEF Chief of Communication Marc Vergara, and Dr. Nima Asgari-Jirhandeh, Public Health Specialist: Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response, of the World Health Organization.

By Chhay Sophal
chhaysophal@yahoo.com

Phnom Penh (29 May, 2009): Cambodia health experts on Friday urge their people and other travelers to have medical checkup after returning home from abroad and immediately report to health centers when they suspect of having deadly A(H1N1).

Speaking in a roundtable discussion organized by Club of Cambodian Journalists, Dr. Sok Touch, Director of Communicable Disease Control Department of Cambodia’s Health Ministry, said the ministry has closely worked with World Health Organization (WHO) and other health organizations to thoroughly follow up the virus situation.

“I would like to appeal our brothers and sisters who return from foreign countries please immediately go to have medical checkup after one week when they suspect of having A(H1N1), especially when your temperature is going high,” he said.

Dr. Sok Touch also hinted that the scanner machines at the airports in both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap just track down on high temperature, not A(H1N1), of people who cross by. He said people who catch the virus of A(H1N1) at the first day look normal but the virus can develop in a few days later.

“We also would like to urge people who arrive at the airports and at the border checkpoints to fill the health form properly and faithfully with the clear contact such as address and telephone number so that we can be aware of your health condition later,” he said.

Dr. Ly Sovann, Deputy Director of the Communicable Disease Control Department, said some passengers never fill the health forms provided by the airports’ staff. “We do not know exactly why they do not fill the health form. They could be either aiming to hide their health condition or unaware of their temperature. They must fill it in,” he urged.

Though Cambodia has not yet affected by A(H1N1) ), the global concern, the health experts say the country has been preparing to prevent the virus as much it can.

“We do not have the virus yet in Cambodia right now but we are trying our best to prevent it with support from WHO and others. Cambodia like other nations has its health monitoring system at the airports and at the border checkpoints to follow up the issue in case there is something unseal,” he said.

On 22nd May after getting information from South Korean embassy, Cambodian health authorities searched for three US citizens who shared a flight from the US to South Korea with a person later diagnosed with the virus. The three arrived in Phnom Penh on 17th May and the Cambodian Health Ministry and WHO said the three passengers did not display influenza symptoms at the time of their arrival.

On 25th May a Japanese couple who showed symptoms of flu after traveling by air from Vietnam to Siem Reap have been confirmed that they just had ordinary flue but not A(H1N1).

UNAIDS urges journalists to help reduce stigma and discrimination

Geeta Sethi (left) gives her closing remarks at the seminar with K.P. Madhu, AIBD Programme Manager.

By Chhay Sophal
chhaysophal@yahoo.com

Beijing, China (Monday 27 April, 2009): Because of clear understanding of journalists’
important role in the society, a sentence involving with HIV/AIDS is said “Journalists can save more lives than doctors”.

The sentence was voiced by former UNAIDS Director Dr. Peter Poit and it has been echoed by his colleagues and many other AIDS activists around the globe.

During a two-day regional “Media Leaders’ Seminar” last week in Beijing, China, participants who are journalists and AIDS workers from government institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and international agencies in nine Asian countries agreed with the sentence as they think that journalists really have influence to send the mass public messages on the epidemic and prevention of AIDS, killing millions of people in the world.

Speaking in her opening remarks at the seminar, Geeta Sethi, Manager of Regional Support Team in Asia and the Pacific of APLF which is the sub-division of UNAIDS, also reminded the seminar the sentence adding that journalists really have the most crucial role in responding to AIDS because they have provided opportunity to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and AIDS affected people a voice to say what they need from the society, especially the issue regarding to stigma, and discrimination.

She said stigma and discrimination are still the problems and they are the sensitive issues for some nations because of social norms and cultural restriction. Such case, she said, journalists are really necessary and they can help change the negative attitude so that PLHA and other vulnerable people can get care, support, prevention and ARV treatment easily.

In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Li Xiguang, School of Journalism and Communication Executive Director at Tsinghua University in Beijing, also said “Journalism is the destruction weapon for diseases” as he meant that journalists send messages to everywhere in order to let people be aware of the danger of diseases, especially HIV/AIDS that has no medicine to cure so far.

In Cambodia, HIV prevalence among people aged 15 to 49 has dropped by 2% in 1998 to
0.9% in 2006 and according to the National AIDS Authority, the prevalence could fall to 0.5% by 2012. National and international AIDS workers say the drop is a big part of journalists’ participation and that “HIV transmission is so fast but journalists’ message is faster”.

AIDS workers express their concerns that if there is no more effort the second wave of HIV epidemic could return once again, especially return to vulnerable people like beer promotion women, female massagers, karaoke women, men who have sex with men, mobile people/migrants, including pregnant women who can transmit HIV to their babies if they are HIV-positive.

In the Media Leaders’ Seminar held on April 23-24, participants promised to set up communication network in order to provide information to each other and share what they say “Do you know? You might not know. Never give up and don’t forget. Remove discrimination. (Be) the leaders, responsibilities, and stay well inform. Speak out against ignorance, prejudice, and deception,...”. The participants are from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In their group presentation, Cambodian team raised that stigma and discriminations are the worms causing isolation, being unable to access to information, living separation in society, human rights abuse, and poverty while stigma and discrimination become worst and such things can lead to more HIV transmission.

The Cambodian participants also suggested that the reduction of stigma and discrimination for AIDS affected people and other vulnerable persons can be done until there is participation from all sectors with support from law and law enforcement.

Besides communities’ support, they said, the people who matter must be strong themselves and try to build their own capacity as well.

Geeta Sethi on behalf of UNAIDS also agreed with the points and urged again and again media outlets and practitioners to more help continue their movement of stigma and discrimination reduction saying that “Because of stigma and discrimination, we invite journalists in Southeast Asia, including China and Mongolia, to discuss here in China”.