CAIRO: Egypt will not produce the H1N1 vaccine in the country, but will import it from international pharmaceutical companies, the Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center said. The center's statement, also said that the new vaccine is "safe and does not cause cancer. Egypt has booked some 5 million doses of the new vaccine and it will start receiving them by next year in stages. In another statement, Minister of Education Youssry El-Gamal said that around 2 million teachers will join the ministry's campaign to fight the H1N1 virus in schools. The teachers will educate students on the new virus and organize awareness campaigns for students on a regular basis. In the same statement, El-Gamal indicated that the ministry has allocated LE 40 million of its budget to renovations in school toilets and sewage systems. On the other hand, Mohamed Kamal Soliman, secretary general of the Teachers' Syndicate, told the press on Monday that the syndicate will turn its 52 offices in different governorates into "operating rooms to follow and monitor the status of H1N1 virus in schools. According to Soliman, the syndicate will be in charge of receiving statements about the eruption and spread of H1N1 cases among students. Soliman further added that the syndicate will conduct regular weekly meetings to assess the situation. Al-Gamal has previously stated that representatives from the ministry of education will meet daily with officials in the ministry of health to monitor the situation. By press time, the total number of H1N1 cases in Egypt was 883. According to Nasr Al-Sayed, deputy minister of health, the number of recovered cases reached 775. On Monday, Egypt reported four new cases, all of which were Egyptians who recently arrived to the country. However, none of the new cases were in Saudi Arabia or were on Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage. At print time, Saudi Arabian officials announced that no deaths from H1N1 flu occurred among the pilgrims who were performing Umrah during Ramadan. According to the Egyptian Ministry of Health's official statement, in Egypt the percentage of infections varied among different age groups. According to the ministry's statistics, 47.4 percent of the cases occurred in patients younger than 20 years old, while 7.5 percent in patents over 45.
