Public health: Authorities ‘not interested’ in collecting infection data

Most passengers not filling and returning declaration of health cards.


Ali Usman December 13, 2013
Authorities ‘not interested’ in collecting infection data. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE:


The Ministry of Health’s programme to collect data regarding the health of passengers travelling to Pakistan from countries where fatal viral infections have been reported, has been entirely ignored as far as passengers arriving at the Allama Iqbal Airport are concerned, The Express Tribune has learnt.


Passengers travelling to Pakistan are given a Personal Declaration of Origin and Health card around 45 minutes before they arrive in Pakistan.

A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) official told The Express Tribune that all flights, connecting and direct, were provided the cards.

“Passengers are asked to fill out the form and return it to the immigration desk before they leave the restricted area,” he said. “Most of the passengers don’t even fill out the form and either throw them away or take it with them.”



The programme was initiated in order to check the spread of infectious diseases like Congo virus that spread through people travelling to and from certain countries. The cards are meant to be used to identify passengers travelling from high-risk countries and monitoring them and run them through checks and tests if necessary.

“The programme has not been implemented properly. Passengers rarely even fill out the cards and submit them at the immigration desks,” the official said.

Muhammad Imran, a passenger interviewed at the airport, said, “I was given this card on the plane. I filled it out but no one asked me for it when I landed.”

He showed his card which asked for passengers’ name, nationality, address in Pakistan and whether the passenger had visited Africa or South America during the last six days.

“I think the card has been introduced recently. It is a good idea but the authorities should make it mandatory for all passengers to fill them out and return them at the desk. I wasn’t given this card the last time I travelled,” Imran said.

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority told The Express Tribune that the CAA was not responsible for collecting the forms or checking passengers. “The Ministry of Health has its own desk here for that purpose. It is their job to collect them,” he said.

An official from the Ministry of Health told The Express Tribune that health inspectors had been directed to check passengers on every flight.

When asked why the cards were not collected at the immigration desk, Health Director Robina, who is in-charge at the airport, declined comment. “We don’t share information with reporters. I cannot say anything about the matter,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2013.

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