7/05/2009
By APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL AND PRADIT RUANGDIT
Bangkok Post
Thailand will propose the beefing up of border controls for influenza among Mekong countries at a meeting today at which Burma will not be formally represented.
Deputy permanent secretary for public health Siriporn Kanchana said strict measures at the borders of countries in the Mekong sub-region were needed to prevent swine flu from spreading.
A network of health surveillance teams and the sharing of scientific information between Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Chinese province of Yunnan had been established since the bird flu outbreak in 2005, Ms Siriporn said.
The principles of this cooperation would be included in a statement tomorrow by the public health ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their partners from China, Japan and South Korea.
"An enhancement of surveillance for the new strain of influenza is urgently needed to strengthen disease control measures among [Asean] member countries," she said.
The meeting starts today with talks among senior officials who will prepare the agenda for the gathering of their ministers.
Burma is the only Asean country not to confirm the participation of its health minister. Burmese ambassador to Thailand Aung Thein had instead accepted an invitation to the meeting, Ms Siriporn said. Naypyidaw did not give a reason for not sending its minister.
In addition to the ministers from Southeast and East Asian countries, experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, United Nations System Influenza Coordination, Food and Agriculture Organisation and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will participate in the meeting to seek a rapid response to an epidemic.
The main objective of the meeting is to assess the spread of influenza and improve prevention measures to protect the lives of over 500 million people in the region.
Thailand was spending 15 million baht to hold the two-day meeting. The 100 million baht budget for arranging the meeting and other campaigns to tackle the flu was approved by the cabinet yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart, who is in charge of the national committee to fight the influenza virus, said yesterday.
But a government source said the cabinet had decided to slash its public relations budget by 20 million baht to 31 million baht.
A plan to buy more thermal scanners had not been discussed, the source said.
Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said he would hold talks with China's health minister today to discuss cooperation on technical know-how such as medicine and vaccine development.
Deputy permanent secretary for public health Siriporn Kanchana said strict measures at the borders of countries in the Mekong sub-region were needed to prevent swine flu from spreading.
A network of health surveillance teams and the sharing of scientific information between Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Chinese province of Yunnan had been established since the bird flu outbreak in 2005, Ms Siriporn said.
The principles of this cooperation would be included in a statement tomorrow by the public health ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their partners from China, Japan and South Korea.
"An enhancement of surveillance for the new strain of influenza is urgently needed to strengthen disease control measures among [Asean] member countries," she said.
The meeting starts today with talks among senior officials who will prepare the agenda for the gathering of their ministers.
Burma is the only Asean country not to confirm the participation of its health minister. Burmese ambassador to Thailand Aung Thein had instead accepted an invitation to the meeting, Ms Siriporn said. Naypyidaw did not give a reason for not sending its minister.
In addition to the ministers from Southeast and East Asian countries, experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, United Nations System Influenza Coordination, Food and Agriculture Organisation and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will participate in the meeting to seek a rapid response to an epidemic.
The main objective of the meeting is to assess the spread of influenza and improve prevention measures to protect the lives of over 500 million people in the region.
Thailand was spending 15 million baht to hold the two-day meeting. The 100 million baht budget for arranging the meeting and other campaigns to tackle the flu was approved by the cabinet yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart, who is in charge of the national committee to fight the influenza virus, said yesterday.
But a government source said the cabinet had decided to slash its public relations budget by 20 million baht to 31 million baht.
A plan to buy more thermal scanners had not been discussed, the source said.
Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said he would hold talks with China's health minister today to discuss cooperation on technical know-how such as medicine and vaccine development.
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