ASEAN+3 Health Ministers Discuss Ways to Stop SARS Spread

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, April 27, 2003

ASEAN+3 Health Ministers Discuss Ways to Stop SARS Spread

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The ASEAN+3 ministers of health met Saturday in Kuala Lumpur to discuss ways to contain spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome and restore to normalcy the lives of millions of people in their countries, according to reports arriving here Saturday.

In a joint declaration released after the special meeting on SARS, the ministers called for stringent pre-departure screening of passengers at airports, sea and river ports and land entry points and agreed that all ASEAN countries and China, Japan and South Korea should bar persons with SARS symptoms from traveling around, the report said.

They have agreed to make it mandatory for travelers from affected countries to fill the SARS health declaration form and toput in place a surveillance mechanism to ensure prompt exchange ofrelevant information on SARS cases and people who have come into contact with them, the report added.

The ministers also agreed to appoint a contact point in every country for routine exchange of information and to set up a "hotline" to facilitate communication in an emergency, the report said.

According to the report, the ministers also agreed in their joint declaration to urge ASEAN+3 heads of government to provide adequate resources for health ministers to respond effectively to the epidemic and to establish a national multi-sectoral task forcewith real power of enforcement matched by the necessary resources.

In addition, the ministers called on other countries outside ASEAN to show similar resolve and commitment and requested the World Health Organization (WHO) to conduct a review of the classification of "affected" countries and update the guidelines on travel.

Shigeru Omi, the regional director of the World Health Organization, was quoted as telling the participating ministers and senior officials that "We must use every weapon at our disposal."

He said that Saturday's meeting in Kuala Lumpur and a summit next week of Southeast Asian leaders in Thailand could "determine the future course" of how nations tackle SARS, which has killed atleast 281 people and infected more than 4,600 worldwide.

The special meeting was held in preparation for the ASEAN summit on SARS scheduled for next week in Bangkok.

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