Bird flu preparedness tackled in regional confab

Health officials from the Pacific region have gathered on Saipan starting yesterday to compare notes on bird flu preparedness.

Participants in the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Regional Strategic Planning Meeting include representatives from the CNMI, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, American Samoa, Independent State of Samoa, Fiji School of Medicine, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

The two-day conference is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is held at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.

Deputy Interior Assistant Secretary David Cohen, head of the Insular Affairs Office, opened the conference yesterday morning.

In a telephone interview, Cohen said the conference was important because it addressed issues that are particular to the islands. The issues, he added, were much different from the issues that face the U.S. mainland.

“Even under the best of circumstances, there are many medical procedures that islanders have to travel elsewhere to receive. This problem will be exacerbated, if a pandemic were to cause a shutdown or severe reduction in air transportation traffic. The islands have to consider how they will cope,” Cohen said.

The islands also have to be prepared how to allocate vaccine in case of a shortage and how to keep such essential functions as health care and utilities running.

“It’s very important to make sure that everyone’s plans are in order,” Cohen said.

Dr. Stephen Ostroff, deputy director of the U.S. National Center for Infectious Disease under the DHHS’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provided a summary of the status and threat of the pandemic influenza. He also briefed the participants on the U.S. government’s bird flu plans.

The CNMI, Guam, Palau, American Samoa, FSM, and the Marshalls also presented their plans yesterday.

“The reps are listening to each other’s plan, trying to identify if there are any gaps, sharing best practices information, and also trying to figure out how they can coordinate with one another,” Cohen said.

The need for coordination, he said, was the reason the conference sponsors invited both American Samoa and the Independent State of Samoa.

“They are very close to each other and if that region gets isolated because of some sort of quarantine or lack of air travel, they might have to depend on each other,” said Cohen.

Division of Public Health medical director Richard Brostrom had said that the CNMI was vulnerable to the bird flu virus because of the islands’ proximity to the affected Southeast Asian countries.

Brostrom had also raised concern that the Commonwealth Health Center was not big enough to accommodate patients if an outbreak occurred.

But he assured the public that DPH had taken measures in preparation for the pandemic since 2003.

According to Brostrom, negative flow rooms in the hospital are now prepared, policies for infection control are now updated and enforced, and the Intensive Care Unit is undergoing expansion. DPH is also making sure it has the ability to diagnose cases as quickly as possible, in order to prevent any unnecessary spread of disease. In addition, DPH is mapping out disaster plans for the outbreak and stockpiling medication for treatment and prevention of the disease.