Phnom Penh (dpa) - The secretary general of the Association of
South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) said on Monday member nations must
work more closely to ensure they can best combat the next pandemic.
Dr Surin Pitsuwan said a coordinated regional effort in combating
pandemics such as SARS and bird flu was vital to ensure the bloc can
recover from worst-case scenarios with minimal losses.
"If we are not careful, it will certainly undermine our own
economic growth and our own resilience in the region," he said on the
first day of the Phnom Penh-based meeting attended by delegates from
the 10-member ASEAN block, the US, the European Union and
organizations such as the United Nations.
"It's natural that all these countries should come together and
make sure that each will not be affected more severely, and no-one
wants to be that weak link in the chain of defence," Surin said.
During the five-day exercise, the first of its kind in the world,
delegates are to manage a fictional six-nation bloc where a severe
pandemic has broken out.
Surin said the conference would provide delegates with the chance
to exchange best practices and learn from each other.
"Pandemics, climate change, even financial crises and economic
slowdown - these can no longer be managed by any member state
anywhere in the world," he said. "The regional approach is more
preferred, is more effective.
In an effort to share best practice beyond the region, a
commissioner from the African Union was scheduled to visit the
ASEAN secretariat in September, he said. "We want to talk about how
our respective regions respond to man-made or natural pandemics -
even climate change," he said.
In a video address, the UN system influenza coordinator, Dr David
Nabarro, said ASEAN nations had taken the lead in recognizing that a
pandemic had implications far beyond health.
Pandemics can also put strain on food production and distribution,
or on energy supplies or communications, "thereby contributing
perhaps to social unrest," he said.
Surin warned that failure to deal with a pandemic could lead to
"severe social and economic disruptions" and even culminate in "the
meltdown of entire societies."
"A severe pandemic would require an emergency response beyond what
the health sector is able to provide," he said.
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