Thursday, February 25, 2010

Egypt: A government study critical of the haphazard management of the bird flu crisis

Thursday, February 25th, 2010 - 13:42

A study issued by the Decision Support Center in Alexandria on the wrong policies pursued by the government and the executive bodies in a pandemic of bird flu in the periods of the spread of disease from 2004 to 2009, where the study pointed out that the intensity and nervous haste and unjustified in the face of the events of avian influenza caused Elimination of livestock and destruction of the economy is already deteriorating, without action to take precautions in the face of a pandemic of avian flu, immune protection and prevention and drug prevention, behavioral, as well as improve the ability of the immune system in birds.

The study pointed out a clear decrease in the number of farms Amiriya district since 2005 and reduced the number of broiler chickens by 6.7% and whites by 0.7%, after registering the largest district of Amiriya the infected because it contains the largest number of broiler farms (239) farm by 73.3% and the farms white (108) farms, which represented 96.4%, followed by a large margin Burj Al Arab, where recorded (55) the percentage of farm broiler farms by 20.4% and white farms (2) by 3.1%.

The study confirmed the absence of national strategy for disaster response, as it was the most important causes of the spread of the disease random establishment of poultry farms and the lack of inventory and lack of their effective application of the fundamentals of bio-security and non-strict in the application of sanitary conditions for the disposal of carcasses and waste, as well as marketing of live birds and the lack of carnage to the extent enough, at a time when the crisis started in other countries, there was plenty of time to prepare the area and the community to deal with the crisis before they appear, but this time used in the government's statements confirm that "everything fully."

The study also noted a lack of coordination of the societal response to the disaster of the private sector and consumer protection associations and chambers of commerce and associations of financial activity, which did not have any financing role or how to get media coverage for women, which have for the birds, poultry and search for the source of income, rather than loss they have suffered heavy upon announcement of the appearance of avian influenza.

The study monitored the decline in the role of clerics in the mosque and church and teachers for education classes, emphasizing the importance of access that information to ordinary people, not received by the press after the disaster, have been better training for nurses the most friction rural housewives to address the crisis. Instead the loose control of the thousands of women follows educate poultry in parts of the country, particularly rural areas in Egypt and also those towers the bathroom, and extended it to the sellers of birds and poultry owners of restaurants, hotels and even shops that use confectionery eggs in the manufacture of sweets as well as the activities of other sectors such as transport sector damaged to prevent transmission of flu in the provinces and manufacture of animal feed.

The study also noted the ineffectiveness of the media in crisis management, which was hosted by non-specialists to share their opinions in the matter like a football match, the result was confusion and uncertainty in the face of a natural disaster with a fixed pattern of presentation of the Media TV programs during a time of crisis, resulting in a lack of awareness of individuals in the environmental disposal of dead poultry in the Nile, canals and drains, which affects the direct use of contaminated water to drink, whether birds or animals or humans or use in washing utensils and other other purposes.

The study recommended the need to establish a national fund for disasters, which draws its items from the budget of the government directly, and some contributions from beneficiaries, and the need to develop the poultry industry by encouraging the establishment of major companies for production, marketing and the arrival of poultry slaughtered and packed to the consumer after a medical examination by the dissemination of culture in the way consumers consume poultry through public information programs designed to raise awareness with the tightening of health and reconsider the tax law to do justice to low-income and progressive tax collection from high income earners to compensate those affected in the event of a disaster.

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