Region Takes New Joint Action On SARS

Bandar Seri Begawan - Health Ministers from Asean, China, Japan and Korea have come up with a joint plan to fight Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Brunei Minister of Health, Pehin Dato Awang Haji Abu Bakar said this after attending a meeting for Asean Health Ministers plus three on Sars in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

In a joint statement, the Health Ministers said that their countries could tackle the challenges posed by this deadly virus only by strengthening collective efforts regionally as well as internationally.

In an exclusive interview with Radio Television Brunei (RTB) upon arrival at the Brunei International airport yesterday, Pehin Abu Bakar said the Asean Health Ministers realised that Sars is a major challenge and a serious problem to region's health and economy.

The Minister said the main priority was to ensure that the health care systems in all the Asean + 3 nations are able to fully tackle the epidemic.

These challenges, he said could only be handled with enhanced regional and international cooperation.

He said the issues discussed included the negative effects of the Sars epidemic on the social and economic conditions of many countries; preventive measures against the spread of SARS, and specifically border controls.

Fast and timely sharing of information, the need for W.H.O. reassessment on classification of Sars-affected areas and the need for enhancement of Asean's capability in controlling diseases and conducting researches especially on newly emerging diseases were also raised.

In a joint statement the Asean Health Ministers agreed that the implementation steps, which were underlined in the joint statement should be taken on the situation. Laws should be upgraded and the current health system enhanced.

Among the steps to be taken are to intensify exchange of information on the best practices in preventive measures and control against Sars and to ensure speedy exchange of relevant information on Sars cases as well as those in close contact with them.

Measures also include to ensure Sars suspects are prohibited from leaving their country of residence, and to ensure that relevant authorities at airports, ports and control posts cooperate with the Health Authority in conducting pre-departure health-screening for those departing from Sars-affected countries.

In order to expedite the implementation of the measures agreed upon in the joint declaration, the Ministers also agreed that a follow-up action be taken by using ASEAN'S existing mechanism and projects such as the Asean Expert Group on Communicable Disease, Asean Disease Surveillance Net for information exchange; Asean Epidemiologic Network; and Asean Project on Strengthening Laboratory Capacity and Quality Assurance for Disease Surveillance.

The measures approved by the ministers would be presented to a Southeast Asian Leader's Summit in Thailand on the 29th of this month.

The Asean Health Ministers as well as China, Japan and Republic Korea appreciated on the commitment as well as support by the Asean leaders to fight against Sars and protect the prosperity of the people of their respective country. -- Courtesy of Radio Television Brunei

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