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ASEAN+3 releases Joint Ministerial Statement on A/H1N1

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-08 19:37

BANGKOK - ASEAN Plus Three Health Ministers Special Meeting on Influenza A/H1N1 concluded on Friday with a joint statement vowing to establish supplies and information sharing system as well as to set up hotlines among national health authorities.

The statement clarifies that the attending states will comply with recommendations of World Health Organization (WHO) on international travels instead of imposing travel restrictions, in order to prevent social and economic disruption to the global and regional communities.

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The two-day meeting, held on Thursday and Friday, was attended by health ministers and senior officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states and the Plus Three countries -- China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The statement, passed at Friday's ministerial session of the meeting and signed by attending health ministers, confirms the commitments of ASEAN Plus Three states, including continuously implementing of the national pandemic preparedness plans, intensifying the performance of surveillance and response system, as well as ensuring effective intersectoral communication.

It said that the implementation of exit screening will be under consideration as one of the cross-border disease control strategies by affected countries, with the application of agreed criteria to classify "affected areas" instead of "affected country ", and to minimize the impact on traveling and trade.

The countries also agree to establish system for sharing of essential supplies among national stockpiles in case of emergency needs and to ensure prompt sharing of data and information on epidemic situation through hotlines among national health authorities.

The transfer of the technology for the production of antiviral medicine and flu vaccines will be encouraged and the regional collaborative researches on influenza will be strengthened, said the statement.

It also requests WHO, other United Nations agencies and international development agencies as well as ASEAN to provide more support, including technical and financial ones based on need assessment.

The ASEAN Plus Three health ministers will try to bring the outcome of this meeting to the attention of the 62nd session of the World Heath Assembly, which will take place from May 18 to 22, 2009 in Geneva, according to the statement.

Clusters of A/H1N1 flu outbreaks have appeared in multiple locations in Mexico, the United States and then across the world, causing at least 44 deaths since the first infection case was reported on 17 March. So far, More than 2,000 confirmed cases have been found in 23 countries globally.