ASEAN to enforce health checks at ports

ASEAN to enforce health checks at ports

Michael Mathes, Agence France-Presse, Bangkok

Southeast Asian leaders agreed here on Tuesday to join forces to fight the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, by working toward pre-departure and arrival health screening for travelers within the region.

In a joint declaration, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to direct their health and other ministers to "work to take rigorous measures for immigration and customs control to prevent the spread of SARS, by implementing pre-departure and arrival screening and better flight management".

ASEAN leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to keep economies and borders open," while they also agreed to establish a ministerial-level joint task force to implement the decisions made at the meeting.

ASEAN and China's leaders held an unprecedented emergency summit here on Tuesday to address the SARS crisis, Asia's worst crisis since the financial meltdown of 1997-1998.

"They were fruitful discussions on measures to strengthen cooperation and determine steps (to control SARS)," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who chaired the meeting, said of the talks.

ASEAN and China leaders pledged to exchange information on SARS, carry out cooperative research and training programs on the disease, and jointly sponsor a high-level international symposium on SARS control and treatment in China, as soon as possible.

They also agreed to "sponsor a special symposium to assess the political, security, economic and other possible impacts of SARS on the region and come up with regional counter-measures to address the impacts".

ASEAN and China furthermore announced the establishment of a fund for China-ASEAN cooperation programs aimed at controlling SARS, to which China has pledged US$1.2 million.

Leaders expressed confidence in their ability to combat the crisis.

"If Vietnam can do it, Hong Kong, with its resources, Singapore with the resources it's put in, and China, with its will, the resources and organization, can ... begin to eradicate it," Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told reporters.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, however, warned China still faced an uphill battle.

"China's situation in terms of SARS is still grave," he said.

"There is a surge in the number of reported cases. The epidemic is beginning to spread to other regions. There is a need for us to recognize the fact that SARS is going to be a long-term and reoccurring epidemic," he said.

Wen said the country was taking "decisive" measures to tackle the outbreak, by dispatching 31 inspection teams, implementing a system of reporting the epidemic and providing adequate medical treatment.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China were hoping to convince a spooked world they are taking efficient measures to contain the spread of the disease, and bring back confidence to the region.

The panic surrounding SARS has left tourism and travel industries reeling, with the social impact also mounting, particularly in China, where cases have not yet peaked, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

ASEAN leaders met together earlier on Tuesday and were briefed by the WHO before later being joined by the Chinese delegation.

The WHO later called on China to begin screening departing passengers from its airports.

"It's extremely important that China introduce screening at their airports and it has been recommended they do this," he said.

China, which initially attempted to cover up the outbreak last November in southern Guangdong province, has reported 148 deaths and more than 3,300 cases.

Globally, more than 350 people have died as a result of the virus, for which there is no cure or vaccine, while more than 5,600 people have been infected, most of them in Asia.

The ASEAN-plus China session was the first meeting between Wen, who took office in March, and the leaders of ASEAN members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

More than half of ASEAN members have reported SARS deaths: Singapore (22), Vietnam (5), Malaysia (2), Philippines (2) Thailand (2) and Indonesia (1).