Asia seeks united front against H1N1 flu
Posted: 06 May 2009 1600 hrs

	Photos  of
	Related News • China suspends express visa service for Americans • Mexico raises flu death toll to 29, infected to 913 • Beware of products claiming to be effective against H1N1 virus • Mexican government hailed by WHO for flu response • H1N1 flu could derail Asia economic recovery, says ADB • Flu fears abate despite new US death, rising caseload • First death of US resident from H1N1 flu Special Report • Flu Outbreak

MANILA - Top health officials from 13 Asian countries are to meet in Thailand this week to try to forge a common front in the fight against H1N1 flu, the meeting's chairman said Wednesday.

Philippines Health Secretary Francisco Duque is to serve as chairman of the meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Bangkok on Friday, as the world's most populous continent tries to keep a lid on the influenza A(H1N1) virus.

Health ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their counterparts from top regional trading partners China, Japan and South Korea are to "compare our pandemic flu preparedness," Duque told reporters in Manila.

The ministers are to review surveillance systems in place at ports of entry and measures to prevent the spread of the virus, he said.

They will also be looking at how health workers can be protected and the capacity of hospitals, he added, along with how countries might help each other.

"Our objective is to come up with a resolution binding to all countries for submission to the forthcoming World Health Assembly, which will be held starting May 18 in Geneva," he added.

The World Health Assembly is the governing body of the WHO.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Along with China, Japan and South Korea, the 13 countries to be represented at the meeting are home to 2.09 billion people, or more than 31 percent of the world's population.

According to the latest WHO figures, 1,490 people around the globe have been infected by H1N1 flu; 30 people have died, 29 of them in Mexico.

Many countries around the world have imposed a range of measures in a bid to stem the spread of the disease.

Hundreds of people were Wednesday still under quarantine at a hotel in Hong Kong, after health authorities sealed it off for a week.

South Korea reported its first confirmed case at the weekend and on Tuesday confirmed Asia's first person-to-person transmission of the disease.

The Philippines has put five people -- including three foreigners -- under observation after five others tested negative for the virus, Duque said.

"Many countries are reacting to this differently from one another.

"We have to have some kind of a standard, and we need to consult with each other and agree," he said.

- AFP /ls