Indonesia and Singapore join forces against SARS

Indonesia and Singapore join forces against SARS

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau

Indonesia and Singapore signed on Thursday a bilateral agreement
to keep the two neighboring countries SARS free.

Indonesian health minister Achmad Sujudi said the agreement
required the two governments to screen people crossing the
borders of the two countries to detect possible cases of Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

"We will maintain the ASEAN agreement that requires arriving
passengers to fill out health declaration cards and have their
temperature checked at airports and seaports," Sujudi said after
signing the joint statement at the Meeting on Border Issues and
SARS at Hotel Novotel here.

Singapore was represented by health minister Lim Hgn Kiang.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups
Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines,
Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. ASEAN health
ministers met in Bangkok late in April, resulting in an agreement
to heighten screening at international ports of departure.

Under the bilateral agreement signed on Thursday, all
passengers with a fever of 38 degrees Celsius or above will be
quarantined and receive immediate medical treatment at hospitals
until recovery.

"But passengers heading for Singapore from Batam by ferry visa
versa who have a high fever will be sent home for treatment at
hospital," Sujudi said.

Batam is just 30 minutes from Singapore by ferry.

The agreement also covers training, exchange of data and
assistance in the form of thermal scanners provided by Singapore.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on June 12
Indonesia and other ASEAN member countries free of SARS, which
killed 32 people in Singapore.

Sujudi said the bilateral agreement would help the economies
of the two countries to recover, particularly in the
transportation and tourism sectors.

In his remarks, Lim said the agreement was needed to speed up
the two countries' efforts to contain the disease.

Singapore donated two thermal scanners to the Indonesian
government.

SARS has affected over 8,500 people around the world since
April, 792 of them died. In most parts of the world, the outbreak
has ceased.