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Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Action Plan (June 2, 2003)
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1. Provision of Information on SARS to Public
- Provision of up-to-date information through the Ministry's web site.
- Publication of SARS Q&A (Also available on web page).
- Telephone consultation service at local public health departments and prefectural governments.
2. Advisory to Travelers Visiting Hong Kong, Guangdong (China), and other SARS-Affected Areas.
- All travelers visiting Beijing, Tianjin, Taiwan, Shanxi Province, Neimenggu and Hebei Province are advised to reconsider their plans and postpone unnecessary visit to the region.
3. Reinforcement of Activities at Quarantine Stations
- Dispatching medical doctors from national hospitals and other medical institutions to quarantine stations to assist their activities.
- Distributing the health status questionnaire and monitoring body temperature of all passengers on all flights from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Canada. If necessary, the health status of passenger will be followed up for 10 days
- Monitoring body temperature of all passengers on all international flights at all airports. (May 26).
4. Preparation for a Possible Outbreak in Japan
(1) Establishment of Surveillance System
- Establishing a system to dispatch teams of specialists to assist prefectural government during the outbreak. Each team consist of about 4 specialists including epidemiologist and clinician (April 15).
- Organizing workshops on epidemiological survey (May 13).
(2) Designation as a New Emerging Infectious Disease
- After careful consideration of human rights of patients with symptoms, SARS was designated as a new emerging infectious disease* of Infectious Disease Prevention Act to provide adequate medical attention. Infectious Disease Subcommittee of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Science Council discussed handling of potential SARS patients, and the recommendations were made to prefectural governments (May 2).
* This will allow authorities to order patient to be hospitalized if necessary.
(3) Preparation of Health Care Providers
- Designating International Medical Center of Japan as designated medical institution for specific infectious disease (April 7).
- Securing 739 negative pressure room beds. (551 beds in designated medical institutions for specific infectious disease and 188 beds in other medical institutions)
- Organizing workshop on prevention of in-hospital infection (May 2, 7, and 9)
(4) Strict Risk Management
- Local authorities have been instructed to draw up detailed "Action Plan" for a possible outbreak. All prefectural governments have developed their action plans.
- "Management Guideline for Preventing In-Hospital Infection" has been drafted and published (April 7).
- Meeting of directors of national public health lead offices was held, and directors were briefed on the national policy and action plan during a possible outbreak (May 6).
5. Promotion of International Cooperation
- Dispatching medical doctors to affected countries and cooperating on researches in diagnosis and treatments.