TOP ASIAN HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY NO TO EXIT SCREENING

BY D ARUL RAJOO

BANGKOK, May 8 (Bernama) -- Top healths officials from Asean, China, Japan
and South Korea have shot down a proposal to implement exit screening at
airports and border crossings in the region to deal with possible spread of the
H1N1 virus.

According to officials attending the senior officials meeting Thursday ahead
of Friday's Special Asean + 3 Health Ministers Meeting, a proposal was made to
have screening on people leaving a country and bar those with H1N1 symptoms
from leaving their country.

"But some countries like Laos have expressed reservation as this could
involve huge cost in providing thermal scanners and affect trade. And this also
will cause problems to travellers and so far most of the countries affected have
been reluctant to impose such ban...it's unlikely the ministers will discuss the
issue," he said after the meeting.

Instead, some officials have proposed that whenever an outbreak occurs,
authorities should classify "affected areas" instead of affected country and to
minimise the impact on travelling and trade.

So far, Asean has been free of the virus. Mexico, believed to be the source
of the outbreak, has reported 942 laboratory confirmed human cases, including 29
deaths, while USA has 642 cases and two deaths.

In the draft of the Joint Ministerial Statement to be issued after the
meeting Friday, the ministers want continued political commitment and effective
surveillance.

Recognising that international travel moves rapidly, with large numbers of
people visiting various parts of the world, evidence indicates that in the
current situation of H1N1 spread, limiting travel and imposing travel
restrictions would have very little effect on stopping the virus from spreading.

This, they said would be highly disruptive to the global and regional
communities and pose major negative impacts on the current global economic
downturn.

"The pandemic is imminent but has not occured yet," the draft statement
said.

They also said that since more than 90 percent of the global vaccine
production capacity are located in Europe and North America, despite other
regions having begun to acquire the technology to produce influenza vaccines,
access to effective pandemic vaccines is a major problem in the region.

The ministers also pledged to cooperate with WHO through reporting outbreak
information, seeking for guidance and sharing virus specimens with WHO
Collaborating Centres.

-- BERNAMA