NIH trains airport, land border and seaport personnel across Pakistan in preventing cross border disease transmission

Islamabad, January 07, 2020 (PPI-OT): The National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad facilitated and arranged a series of training workshops for strengthening and capacity building of Points of Entry under Directorate of Central Health Establishment, to increase competence and capacity for managing public health risk and threats at Airports, Ground Border Crossings and Sea ports, including risk assessment, risk management and crisis communication.

The series of training workshop was organized in all over the Pakistan, i.e. Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad, and Gwadar. Near 200 staff working at different Points of Entry in Pakistan were trained in this series of training at different cities. During training session conducted at Islamabad, Executive Director of NIH, Maj. Gen. Prof. Aamer Ikram SI (M) said that National Institute of Health is continued to provide support in capacity building of government institution engaged in public health and disease prevention across Pakistan.

Being leading agency in public health surveillance and response at National level, National Institute of Health is providing full support to all government institutions and providing its best technical facilitation in capacity building of the national departments, he said. Points of Entry are established in Pakistan at different Airports, Ground Crossing Borders, and Sea Ports, with designated offices and staff authorised to monitor, examine the disease and infectious agents (biological, radiological, chemical) and to respond them as front-line responders (defence) of Pakistan.

Aim of this series of training was to empower the Points of Entry staff about advance techniques and skills to protect the health of travellers and general public of Pakistan from any disease risk from foreign countries. The participants were also empowered in used of restrictive means necessary to prevent the spread of a contagions or possibly contagious disease from other countries to Pakistan. The staff was educated and trained how to examine and respond to the suspected travellers, baggage, cargo, containers, conveyances, goods, postal parcels and human remains departing and arriving from affected areas.

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