HE Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah chaired the first meeting of the Council of the National Center for Disease Vector Control in Jazan which is regarded as the sole Center specialized in fighting tropical regions diseases in the Kingdom and the Middle East. The meeting was also attended by a British delegation from Liverpool University.
Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Preventive Medicine Dr. Ziad Memish pointed out that the Council has lately decided to set up six research projects dedicated to address communicable diseases that can be conveyed by different vectors in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Such Projects are envisioned to control infectious diseases such as Malaria, Rift Valley Fever and Dengue in addition to other communicable diseases in the Kingdom. The said projects are also intended to focus on mosquitoes sensitivity towards pesticides and how to know about best ways to use such pesticides with no bad effects on man and Environment in addition to preparing a complementary study about Malaria, its complications and latest ways to support epidemic monitoring.
He said that the Minister and Dean of Liverpool University Dr. Janet Hemingway in addition to the Council's members discussed the achievements previously made which have been dedicated to improving Jazan's Center to serve not only the Kingdom, but all the Middle East Region as well in the field of vector Communicable diseases and infectious ones.
The Deputy Minister stated that Liverpool University Council for Tropical Regions has utilized all its potentials to help in achieving objectives of Jazan Center's Activities. That Council depended on experts specialized in Disease Vector and Tropical Diseases from Universities of Liverpool, London, Colorado State and California in addition to Research Medicine Council in South Africa.
Jazan's Center Council has also approved a comprehensive plan for training programs dedicated to Saudi health cadres to be well qualified with M.A or PHD degrees in Vector and Communicable diseases all over the Middle East Region and East Mediterranean. Such cadres are to be supported by latest equipment in the field of disease vectors. The Plan is also intended to evaluate efficacy of some pesticides.
Being the first center of its kind on the Middle East level, Jazan's Center is aimed to achieve the Kingdom's aspiration to decrease and eliminate communicable diseases in addition to improving health levels in the Kingdom and the region.
In the same respect, Liverpool experts have paid field visits to the Center's sites that deal with Disease Vector in Jazan and Jeddah. They also met with officials from Assistant Agency for Preventive Medicine in addition to visiting the medical teams who supervise over pesticides spraying in the various regions of the Kingdom where they know about ways of spraying, electronic monitoring, reporting and follow-up processes.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Health, represented by Dr. Ziad Memish, signed last year an agreement of cooperation with Liverpool University, represented by Dr. Hemingway, to collaborate for developing the National Center for Disease Vector Control in Jazan to be a scientific lighthouse in controlling tropical diseases through scientific and professional processes.