ASEAN, UN, USAID conduct major international exercise to prepare for severe pandemic

JAKARTA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United Nations and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will shortly host a pandemic preparedness and response exercise focusing on managing the impacts of severe pandemics on societies, governments and organizations in the Southeast Asian region, a joint statement released by those three organizations said here on Tuesday.

The exercise, which is a first of its kind anywhere in the world, will take place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 16-20 August 2010. It is expected to attract over 170 high-level participants from governments, UN agencies, international bodies and non- governmental organizations.

The unprecedented event aims to improve the capabilities of ASEAN Member States, both individually and collectively, to prepare for and respond to a severe pandemic with potentially devastating effects on the region.

The exercise also sets out to improve multi-sectoral preparedness and response at the country, regional and global level among the Member States and other international actors.

A severe pandemic could have hugely damaging effects on the Southeast Asia region. While many countries are engaged in meeting such a threat, much of the focus in the past has been on health area preparedness.

ASEAN Members States increasingly recognize that non-health sectors can also be gravely affected, impeding a government's capacity to respond to a pandemic.

This thinking has led to the need to come together to identify the gaps in pandemic preparedness, and to strengthen collaboration and coordination among Member States.

In expressing his appreciation for the event and emphasizing its importance, the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, said that the table-top exercise will help us fulfill the wishes of our ASEAN leaders for our region to be ready in times of pandemics.

"We will use the exercise to identify our gaps in pandemic preparedness and prepare for a regional pandemic preparedness plan as called for in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint. Lessons learnt from this exercise can be used not only for cases of pandemics but also for other severe events affecting our region, such as natural disasters," he said.

Dr. Nhim Vanda, Senior Minister, First Vice President, National Committee for Disaster Management, Royal Government of Cambodia, emphasized the value of the event to the region;

"Cambodia was one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to focus its preparedness efforts on non-health sectors. This event provides the opportunity to bring the multisector preparedness focus to a regional level and set an example that can be followed on a global front," he said.

The transboundary nature of pandemics means that they seldom remain isolated within a single country. Effective regional arrangements are imperative to ensure the continuity of operations and subsequent security of a country during a pandemic. The pandemic preparedness and response exercise aims to strengthen these arrangements.

Editor: Deng Shasha