November 21, 2005

Singapore, Indonesia to cooperate further against bird flu

Singapore and Indonesia would cooperate further against bird flu, following official discussions at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in South Korea.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suggested Singapore cooperate with Indonesia and other countries such as the US, and international organisations including the World Health Organization, on a pilot project for curbing bird flu.

The pilot project could be started in a localised part of Indonesia, and would involve monitoring and studying of bird flu samples. A response plan could also be formulated for the event of a pandemic.

While Indonesia already had a national action plan against the disease, it also had many different models in place to deal with it, according to a spokesperson for Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Both leaders agreed that the pilot project would act as a new model to be perfected. If successful, this model could be extended to other regions as well.

Officials from both countries would work out the details for implementation. This could involve using laboratories in Singapore or American technologies, such as the Centers for Disease Control.

While no time frame for implementation has been set, the Indonesian spokesperson said the project should be done as soon as possible.

The respective ministers of health for both countries would also formulate and implement action plans, in response to the model.