Health institutions in the Northern Region particularly along the border towns have been placed on high alert to prevent the transmission of the Influenza A (H1N1) also known as the swine flu. Additionally, health authorities in the region have cautioned the various health facil­ities to step up their surveillance system and formulate strategies to prevent the transmis­sion of the flu. According to the Regional Health Promot­er, Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Yakubu, six sub­committees have been formed to ensure an effective surveillance of the disease. They include the communications/publicity, sur­veillance, public health, assessment and com­pensation subcommittees. He, however, maintained that the region had not yet recorded any case but "we are on high alert to investigate and manage any suspected case". The health promoter equally entreated residents of the region to cooperate with the health authorities by reporting any flu-like illnesses to the nearest health facility. He explained that the regional task force committee on the influenza had met three times to strategise on how best to manage the situation in ease of an outbreak of the disease. Alhaji Yakubu said one of the key strate­gies was to use a multimedia approach to reach out to the public. He stated that key messages had been designed and that the Institute of Languages had been tasked to translate such messages into Dagbani, Gonja, Lekpakpa and Mampruli to help articulate and drive home what was expected from the public. "The region has been given 500 capsules of Oseltamivir (Tami flu) to help contain any emergency situation that might arise due to transmission of the disease," he said. Alhaji Yakubu further indicated that a num­ber of radio discussion programmes and jin­gles, were being done while key messages on the prevention of the disease had been sent to mosques and churches in the region. "We also intend to use the National Com­mission for Civic Education and the Informa­tion Services Department to organise street announcements especially along border towns on the disease," he added. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that 1, 893 cases of the influenza have been reported in 23 countries worldwide with 31 deaths recorded. According to the WHO, the disease should be called Influenza A (HINI) instead of the swine flu. The disease is caused by a virus that affects the respiratory system. Its symptoms include high fever, cough or sore throat and body aches. Source: Daily Graphic