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Swine flu line goes live
30/04/2009
A dedicated swine flu advice line will go live this afternoon.
Accessed through NHS 24, the line will give the public information about swine flu and what to do if they have any concerns.
Callers to NHS 24 - 08454 24 24 24 - will now be given the additional option of being put straight through to a dedicated team who are dealing with swine flu.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:
"It's vital that members of the public can readily access reliable and trustworthy information about swine flu.
"This line will be an easy way for people to keep abreast of the situation. Knowledge is power. Keeping everyone informed will help people to take appropriate steps to protect themselves as well as reassuring them about the level of risk.
"Although we have had two confirmed cases in Scotland, I would like to reassure people that we are not in a pandemic situation and the level of threat to public health remains low."
NHS 24 Medical Director George Crooks said:
"NHS 24 has increased its staffing resource and the service is performing extremely well with the rise in call demand."
NHS 24 is currently receiving around 18 per cent more calls than forecast. While around eight per cent of these calls are related to swine flu, only a small number relate to people with flu-like symptoms who have returned from affected areas.
The World Health Organization has raised the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 3 to phase 5, the second highest level indicating a global pandemic is imminent.
Scotland's Chief Medical Officer Dr Harry Burns said:
"The declaration of phase five by the World Health Organisation means that they consider a pandemic to be imminent.
"It is a call to all countries to complete their preparations for surveillance and treatment of those exhibiting signs and symptoms of the disease.
"Scotland has been preparing for a pandemic for some years now and the necessary surveillance and monitoring was activated when the first concerns were raised about the situation in Mexico.
"Phase five therefore intensifies activities underway in Scotland, which have already been recognised by the WHO as being effective and comprehensive.
"As the Cabinet Secretary for Health said today, the NHS, in partnership with other organisations such as local authorities, is already dealing vigorously with this outbreak and we are activating our plans - developed over a number of years - to protect the public."
Public Health Minister Shona Robison will join EU Health Ministers in Luxembourg today at a meeting intended to co-ordinate Europe's response to the outbreak.