Slovak News Back to the news
Health Ministry Presses Charges against SDKU MP for Spreading Panic
Monday 30 November 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - The Health Ministry is pressing charges against SDKU-DS MP Viliam Novotny for spreading panic in connection with the A(H1N1) flu, said Health Minister Richard Rasi at a press briefing on Monday in Bratislava.
Novotny, vice-chairman of Parliament's Healthcare Committee, accused the ministry earlier on Monday in Kosice of underestimating the A(H1N1) virus situation.
"We're protesting against having been accused of being unprepared. I want to say that the Slovak Republic updated its pandemic plan due to the novel flu, and prepared for 30,000 beds for possible patients," said Rasi, adding that the country has at its disposal a sufficient amount of sterile gauzes and antivirotics. Moreover, the flu epidemic still hasn't arrived in Slovakia, while its culmination is expected between January and February next year as is usually the case every year, added the minister.
Novotny also said that the ministry is waiting for the "right" company to supply the vaccines for the highest price, and added that the contract on their purchase is confidential. In reaction, Rasi said that Slovakia will buy these vaccines for one of the lowest prices in Europe. The chief Slovak hygienist Ivan Rovny also rejected Novotny's claims.
According to Rasi, Slovakia isn't tardy in vaccinating its people against the A(H1N1) pandemic, and underlined that citizens should, as a form of prevention, also get vaccinated against the regular flu. "We'll start vaccinating people as soon as the vaccines (against H1N1) are available", said Rasi.
Epidemiologists last week recommended to renew regular operation of the Slovak-Ukrainian border regime, as Ukraine is returning to normal after it was hit by flu epidemic earlier in the month. According to Rovny, the border areas haven't registered any increased flu levels since then.
In Slovakia, there have been some 490 cases of the novel flu patients registered so far this year. On November 24, a 32-year-old man who had contracted the disease died in Prievidza (Trencin region), but he had other health complications. The first case of the novel flu in Slovakia earlier this year was a 37-year old man who got infected on his trip to the U.S., and whose 8.5-month-old child subsequently contracted the disease. The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on June 11 in connection with the spreading of the virus A(H1N1) a first world pandemic for the past 40 years.
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
