Ministry worries over hygiene of donated food
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To prevent outbreaks of diarrhoea, members of the public are being reminded to use proper hygiene when preparing donated food for distribution to flood victims.
“We know that many people are trying to bring food boxes to help flood victims, but because of the long distances involved, food could become tainted,” Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr Paijit Warachit said.
He instructed the Food and Drug Administration and the Medical Science Department to check donated food being distributed to flood victims.
“We need to take hygiene into account, as we want to prevent outbreaks of diarrhoea among flood victims,” he told health officials at a meeting of the ministry’s operations centre called to discuss handling of the flood situation.
The ministry has dispatched teams of medical workers, including psychiatrists, to provide care and help victims deal with stress.
Local health officials were instructed to survey the number of medical workers and supplies of medicines in their local health units as a basis for forming the teams dispatched by the ministry.
The ministry has sent out 1,510,250 medicine packages to help flood victims. Paijit said he had instructed health officials to speed up this effort, particularly for blood-pressure and diabetes medications.
Paijit said he had ordered Pathum Thani and Pranang Klao hospitals, which are at risk from flooding, to evacuate patients to other hospitals. Only 100 patients remained in Pathum Thani Hospital yesterday.
He said he had also ordered hospital staff to conserve medicines and electricity for use in urgent cases.
