APEC agrees tighter measures on bird flu

Asia Pacific nations Wednesday pledged to strengthen their ability to
mount a swift and effective response to a possible bird flu pandemic,
including stockpiling of drugs and vaccine development.

Foreign and trade ministers at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) forum "noted with concern" the threat of avian influenza and
agreed to accelerate work to counter the deadly H5N1 virus, a joint
statement said.

The ministers "agreed it was critical to ensure that APEC was prepared
for and had the capacity to effectively respond to infectious diseases
at the individual, regional and international levels," said the
statement.

It said APEC would cooperate with the World HealthOrganization, the
Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Organization for
Animal Health.

The ministers "underscored the importance of timely and accurate
reporting and capacity building efforts to enable adequate, systematic
and well-coordinated prevention."

They also endorsed a report reached during an APEC-organized meeting
of international health experts in Brisbane late last month, which
recommended measures such as stockpiling of drugs such as Tamiflu and
developing a vaccine for the disease.

Ministers called for support to strengthen regional monitoring and
response systems and welcomed an offer by Singapore for the use of its
Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention Center to help APEC in
responding to a possible pandemic.

It also included a proposal to hold a simulated outbreak of a
human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus next year to test
APEC's emergency preparedness.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 60 people in Asia
since late 2003 and experts fear disaster could strike if it becomes
readily contagious through human-to-human contact.

All but four of the deaths -- which were in Cambodia -- were recorded
in APEC member countries, namely Thailand, Indonesia and worst-hit
Vietnam.

Asia Pacific leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush and
Chinese President Hu Jintao, will meet in the South Korean port of
Busan for their annual summit on Friday and Saturday.

In Japan ahead of his arrival Wednesday in Busan, Bush urged his APEC
colleagues to learn from the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003 and join
forces to fight a potential worldwide spread of bird flu

www.thejakartapost.com