The Minister for Health and Social Policy, Trinidad Jimenez, said yesterday that Spain was the first EU country to activate a response plan for early detection and prevention of swine flu, or “New Flu” as it has been named by the European Community.
Jimenez explained the Government’s actions to the threat of the disease, saying ”From the moment we received the first communications from the World Health Organization on the state of Mexico, on Thursday evening, we took the immediate decision to activate the National Plan for preparedness and response to an influenza pandemic, throughout Spain. “
Jimenez noted that they had taken all the measures in the international protocols for these cases, “this allowed us to control the situation”.
Jimenez added that the government “…has reinforced the epidemiological surveillance network of health services, reported to citizens of the preventive measures to be taken when traveling to the affected areas and directed Spanish airports to takeaction to prevent the spread of influenza”.
