Health ministry pinched on bird flu care

By Apiradee Treerutkuarkul

A cash crunch means no patient isolation wards in state hospitals. The wards, technically called "negative pressure rooms," are essential for separating patients put on the bird flu watch-list.

The wards are needed to prevent the possibility of any human-to-human transmission of the virus.

The setting up of influenza isolation wards in community hospitals is also part of the ministry's wider preparedness plan to prevent a bird flu pandemic.

So far, most community hospitals have no such wards as they lack the budget to set them up, said Boonchai Somboonsook, deputy chief of the Health Service Department overseeing the project.

At the moment, altogether only 61 provincial hospitals have these wards, he said.

The previous government last year approved a 40-million-baht budget for the purpose. Each room in an isolation ward costs around 200,000 baht to install, and there are only 200 such rooms in 918 community hospitals across the country.

The budget had been allocated for distribution to local administrative bodies, which were in turn expected to pass it on to community hospitals in their areas. But only a few hospitals have managed to introduce them so far, said Dr Boonchai.

He said since a standard size isolation ward can cost up to two million baht to build, most hospitals could, therefore, build only a small one, and that too was an adapted version of the isolation room for tuberculosis patients.

Dr Boonchai said he would recommend community hospitals, which have yet to receive a budget, to immediately ask for additional financial assistance from local administration bodies to establish the bird flu isolation wards to comply with the ministry's flu pandemic prevention policy.

He has not set any deadlines for the hospitals. But provincial hospitals affected by the re-emergence of the deadly disease, such as in Phitsanulok, Phichit and Suphanburi, have been asked to have them up and running as soon as possible, he said.

According to the World Health Organisation, a negative pressure room should be available at each hospital for isolating patients with bird flu symptoms.

The air, flowing one-way in these special wards, is sterilised and reduces the possibility of the virus circulating in the air. The room is also equipped with a disinfectant ventilation system.

The country is currently experiencing its fifth bird flu outbreak since Jan 15, when the H5N1 virus was first detected in a duck farm in Phitsanulok province.

Since 2004, Thailand has reported 25 human bird flu cases - 17 of them fatal.

Bangkok Post
Sunday January 28, 2007