Prime Minister of Thailand, General Prayut Chan-o-cha,presides over the open ceremony of ASEAN plus three countries including China, Japan and South Korea to strengthen preparedness and response to Ebola threats and ensure health security of the people in the region. World Health Organization Director-General, DrMagaret Chan, concludes 4 factors that letNigeria and Senegal succeed in Ebola control: good preparedness; effective preventive action; strong policy commitment from government; and deep community engagement. Current Ebola outbreak situation as of December 10th, 2014 includes total of 17,942 infected patients and 6,388 deaths at the mortality rate of 35%. No infection has been found in the ASEAN region.
Today (15 December 2014) at Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, Bangkok, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand presides over the openingceremony of ASEAN Plus Three Health Minister’s Special Meeting on Ebola Preparedness and Response. Health Minister of ASEAN Plus Three member countries namely, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam including China, Japan and South Korea with ASEAN Secretary-General, WHO Assistant Director-General, Director for the Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice of World Bank and senior experts from international organization e.g. United Nations, WHO, United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (US-CDC). Over a hundred participants attend the meeting to share experiences, practices and develop concrete collaboration to prepare effective mechanisms for responding to Ebola threats and support global efforts to combat the outbreak of Ebola.
Current situation of Ebola outbreak in West Africa is still a deep concern. According to WHO statistics on 10 December 2014, total number of 17,942 patients and 6,388 deaths have been reported, mortality rate is at 35%. The number of infected patients in Sierra Leone is found 7,897 with 1,768 deaths, Liberia, 7,719 infected and 3,177 deaths, Guinea, 2,292 infected and 1,428 deaths,Nigeria, 20 infected and 8 deaths, Mali, 8 infected and6 deaths,United States,4 infected and 1 death, Spain, 1 infected, Senegal, 1 infected. The number of patient in Guinea tends to gradually increase and the patient number in Sierra Leone is still rising while the number tends to decrease in Liberia. The threecounties have developedbetter capacity in triage, treatments, infection report and corpse management.
Though ASEAN region is far from the infected area, preparation must be made for all regions across the globe becausethe world isclosely connected by economy, commerce and traveling especially by international transportation. If an outbreak occurs in anyarea of the region, there will be high risk of disease spreading to other areas in or out of the region. Therefore, this meeting reflects determination and capacity of ASEAN plus three countries in responding such pandemic of disease and crisis. Mechanism has been developed since the outbreak of SARS and Avian Influenza can be applied to other outbreaks of emerging diseases including Ebola. This is an assurance for the people of the region of more than two billion people or one-third of world population.
This Ebola outbreak is both “a test” and a “lesson” for all countries not only challenging public health but also inevitably affects economy of all countries, regional and global. The key principle of Ebola response is to “be aware but not panic”, disseminate knowledge to people, strengthen medical and public health service capacity, research collaboration and medical sciences, surveillance system, transparent and prompt information sharing system and effective response mechanisms. These lead toswift, strong and effective Ebola prevention and responses. If every country possesses strong public health infrastructure and people have quick access to information and service, the outbreak of diseases can be stopped at early stage. Thailand is prepared and ready to exchange experiences in disease prevention and control with other countries.
Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General delivered video message from Switzerland to the meeting concluded that success instopping the outbreak ofNigeria and Senegal is the result of good preparedness, effective preventive action, strong policy commitment from government and deep community engagement.
This meeting will equip Thailand and ASEAN Plus Three countries including China, Japan and South Korea more preparedness and strengths in responding to Ebola and other pandemic diseases and would benefit public health, economy and security of the region.
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