The Humanitarian Update is a monthly publication from UN OCHA's Regional Office in Dubai, reporting on the main humanitarian events in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. For more information on Iraq or OPT, please visit www.ochairaq.org and www.ochaopt.orgcollaboration
Regional - H1N1 ("Swine Flu")
As of 01 August 2009, 23:00 hours, Cairo time, 1778 laboratory-confirmed cases of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 were reported to WHO by 20 Member States of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. A total of 299 of these reported cases were locally transmitted. There are six related deaths reported from Egypt (1), Saudi Arabia (4) and Lebanon (1). On 31 July, Pakistan became the latest country in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region to report a case of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 infection for the first time. For the latest updates please visit www.emro.who.int/csr/h1n1
At the beginning of the month, HRH King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Ruler of Saudi Arabia, and the Ministry of Health held an international consultative workshop on preventative measures against infectious disease for Hajj and Umra, with a special emphasis on H1N1 influenza. A technical group, created to keep a watch on the development of the H1N1, arrived at several conclusions and recommendations, including the restriction of the elderly, children under 12 and the chronically sick from performing this year's Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. This decision still needs to be ratified by the individual governments. For a full list of the panel's recommendations and further updates, please visit www.emro.who.int.
A conference on Inter-sectoral Collaboration on Avian Influenza in Larnaca, Cyprus, was held from 20-22 July. The meeting was concerned with establishing effective collaboration with relevant sectors of society in order to prevent the spread of avian influenza. The conference, organised by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), gathered approximately 25 representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture from the Middle East and North Africa. A full report on the conference will be issued shortly.