ASEAN’s efforts in the prevention and control of communicable diseases
such as SARS and Avian Influenza*
ASEAN is strongly committed to the prevention and control of communicable diseases such as SARS and Avian Influenza. Each ASEAN Member Country has adopted measures, established national multi-sectoral task forces, and appointed contact points for the routine exchange of information on SARS and others. A “hotline” has been set up among ASEAN Health Ministers and their senior officials to facilitate communication in an emergency.
Several ASEAN forums have been convened to devise cooperative measures for dealing with avian influenza. High-level ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Meetings on Labour, Transport, Tourism, Information and Health have addressed the SARS following the Special ASEAN Leaders Summit on SARS and the Special ASEAN-China Leaders Meeting on SARS held on 29 April 2003 in Bangkok.
The Heads of State/Government of ASEAN Member Countries and their Plus-Three Partners, i.e. China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, adopted a Declaration on Avian Influenza Prevention, Control and Response at their recent East Asia Summit held in Kuala Lumpur on 14 December 2005.
A work plan and detailed projects have been prepared and presented at the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza held on 17-18 January 2006 in Beijing.
On the public health sector, the ASEAN+3 Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Programme 2006-2008 has been formulated. The EID focuses on four areas of collaboration between the ASEAN + 3 countries:
To improve the institutional capacity of ASEAN to coordinate and manage effective implementation of the program (coordinated by the ASEAN Secretariat);
To improve the capacity of the ASEAN Disease Surveillance Network to meet the needs of ASEAN Member Countries in Emerging Infectious Disease Surveillance, Preparedness and Response (coordinated by Indonesia);
To improve the capacity of national and regional laboratories in routine diagnostics, laboratory-based surveillance, preparedness and rapid response (coordinated by Malaysia); and
To improve the national and regional capacity in epidemiological surveillance, preparedness, early warning of outbreaks and rapid response to emerging infections (coordinated by Thailand).
The EID also provides for collaboration with ASEAN livestock health agencies, for example, linkages with an ongoing project on “Strengthening Animal Health Management and Biosecurity in ASEAN”. More information on ASEAN’s efforts on avian influenza is posted on the ASEAN Disease Surveillance website at www.ADS-Net.org.
ASEAN has established an Animal Health Trust Fund (AHTF).
The ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery (AMAF) adopted the Regional Framework for Control and Eradication of HPAI on 29 September 2005 in Tagaytay City, the Philippines. The Framework aims to prevent, control and eradicate the disease and covers eight (8) strategic areas for implementation over a period of three years from 2006 to 2008, namely:
Disease surveillance (coordinated by Thailand);
Effective containment measures (coordinated by Malaysia);
Stamping out and vaccination policy (coordinated by Indonesia);
Diagnostic capabilities (coordinated by Thailand);
Establishment of disease free zones (coordinated by Malaysia);
Emergency Preparedness Plans (coordinated by Malaysia); and
Public Awareness (coordinated by the Philippines).
ASEAN will join the Asian Development Bank in organizing a workshop on HPAI control in ASEAN, which will be held back to back with the ASEAN HPAI Task Force meeting at the ASEAN Secretariat, in Jakarta, from 9-13 October 2006. The Workshop is in line with the Regional Framework for Control and Eradication of HPAI and aims to (a) define the gaps within the entire process of HPAI surveillance and information system and diagnosis and to (b) improve HPAI outbreak response capacities in ASEAN.
Recognizing that the prevention and control of communicable diseases such as SARS and Avian Influenza are trans-national in nature which requires close cooperation and coordinated efforts among governments, communities and businesses, ASEAN has been working closely with the international community through international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Organization on Animal Health (or Organization Internationale des Epizootics – OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO), with the view to synergizing the work of ASEAN Member Countries as well as that of the various regional and international agencies.
* For the ARF Workshop on the Role of Civil-Military Cooperation in the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases such as SARS and Avian Influenza
