Health officials of ASEAN members and their counterparts from China
met in Kuala Lumpur Friday to discuss preventive and control
measures relating to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
outbreak.
The meeting, initiated by Malaysia, is a prelude to the ASEAN
Health Ministerial Meeting on SARS to be held tomorrow at the
Palace of Golden Horses in Seri Kembangan, its national news agency
Bernama reported.
Director-General of Health Dr. Mohamad Taha Arif opened the
meeting, attended by senior officials from the 10 members of the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) except Vietnam.
ASEAN groups Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, Cambodia,
Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines.
Officials from China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(SAR), South Korea and Japan have also been invited to the meeting
with China sending their senior health officials.
Malaysian Health Minister Chua Jui Meng earlier said that the
meeting would discuss the respective country's reports in the areas
of epidemiology, public health measures, information on cases and
contacts as well as on how to handle foreign workers.
The meeting will also discuss the need for health declaration cards
for East Asian nations and the need to share laboratories for
identification of the SARS virus, he said.
Participants of the meeting will also address matters related to
the SARS hospitalization and universal protection system since
there has been a large number of healthcare workers down because of
SARS, according to the minister.
The senior officials will be given the opportunity to present their
report on the SARS situation in their country before they prepare
the draft of the joint statement to be forwarded to the health
ministerial meeting.
(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2003)