MT 09-06 regional.qxd

Amid sporadic avian influenza outbreaks and isolated human cases in Southeast Asia, countries and health organizations have intensified their efforts against infectious disease outbreaks in the region. The most recent clusters of H5N1 bird flu occurred in Indonesia and Cambodia, where human-to-human transmission is suspected, while two human cases in Guangzhou and Shenzhen are still under investigation. The WHO recently launched the WHO Collaborating Center for Surveillance, Research and Training on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Guangzhou, the capital of China’s Guangdong province. The province was identified as the source of the 2003 SARS outbreak, and Guangzhou was chosen to take advantage of the past experience of local healthcare professionals in the field of infectious diseases, and its geographic location, according to WHO’s China Director, Henk Bekedam. “It is significant that the center was set up in southern China because it’s an area with greater chances of animalto-human transmission,” said Professor Nanshan Zhong, Director of the Guangzhou Institute for Respiratory Diseases. “This is also an area with high rates of bird flu outbreaks.” According to Dr. Shigeru Omi, WHO’s Regional Director for the Western Pacific, the new WHO Center will have advanced laboratory capabilities for early detection and identification of emerging pathogens, enabling it to function as an early warning system for regional and global outbreaks. Another initiative in this area is a regional agreement signed recently between Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau to coordinate emergency responses to major public health crises in the region. While the 3 parties cooperated in the past to address the SARS and bird flu outbreaks, this agreement would formalize the arrangement, said mainland officials. The agreement provides for information sharing, technical assistance and personnel training for emergency situations, not only for disease outbreaks, but also major traffic accidents and terrorist attacks. “Currently, our discussions focus on preparedness plans for a flu pandemic and monitoring of suspicious pneumonia cases for early detection of avian influenza,” said Dr. Ping-yan Lam, Hong Kong’s Director for Health. “The parties will also compile a list of health experts who will be available to respond to infectious disease outbreaks in our region.”