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Pandemics

Breaking Down Barriers Seen as Key in Bird Flu Fight

April 2, 2007
By Apiradee Treerutkuarkul; Bangkok Post
Excerpts

A story in today's Bangkok Post reported on the recent simulation exercise carried out by six Asian countries that was designed to test region-wide responses to a pandemic influenza emergency.

A summary follows:

Health officials from Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan recently met here to carry out a tabletop exercise aimed at strengthening disease surveillance, treatment and epidemiology.

The six GMS countries agreed to strengthen rapid response surveillance teams working to prevent the virus transmitting from animals to humans and possibly causing a large scale outbreak.

They agreed hospitals should have isolation areas for bird flu patients and on the need for additional checkpoints in border provinces, while also recognising that people should not be discriminated against, said Kamnuan Ungchusak, the director of the Bureau of Epidemiology who led the Thai delegation.

The Mekong neighbours agreed to work on plans to ensure that any bird flu outbreak could be suppressed quickly, before it is allowed to spread.

"In the past, any country stricken with bird flu tended to face restrictions rather than cooperation from neighbours amid fears about the spread of the disease," Dr Kamnuan said.

"But disease prevention requires cooperation that goes beyond borders, especially when this area is spotlighted as ground zero for avian influenza."

It served as a drill for public health and livestock officials as well as other state agencies to share their experiences in dealing with avian influenza, and help them draw plans for working with each other in case a flu pandemic hits the region.

Dr Kamnuan said the GMS countries also agreed to reduce communication barriers and other obstructions to cooperation, especially near border areas.

© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2007

The event was sponsored by the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Global Health and Security Initiative, with additional funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rockefeller Foundation. The exercise is a component of the MBDS, which was developed with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.

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