Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


0

Asia Unites Against Swine Flu Threat

Health ministers from 13 countries pledge increased cooperation

Share

(Newser) – Health chiefs from 13 Asian countries met in Bangkok yesterday to hammer out a unified response to the H1N1 virus, Reuters reports. The ministers pledged to step up cross-border cooperation, establish joint response teams, and share essential supplies. A statement called for Asia to establish the capacity to produce vaccines, which are primarily made in Europe and North America.

Relatively few cases of the flu have emerged in the region, but Asian governments, mindful of the damage caused by SARS and bird flu, are taking no chances. A World Health Organization official at the meeting said it was important to be vigilant, but warned ministers to "refrain from introducing economically and socially destructive measures that lack solid scientific backing."

Tourists from Japan, wearing masks as a precaution against the swine flu, wait at the arrival hall of Beijing Capital International Airport.
Tourists from Japan, wearing masks as a precaution against the swine flu, wait at the arrival hall of Beijing Capital International Airport.   (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Masked Chinese security guards wait for the first group to be released from quarantine at the Guomen hotel in Beijing, China, yesterday.
Masked Chinese security guards wait for the first group to be released from quarantine at the Guomen hotel in Beijing, China, yesterday.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
A Thai soldier wears a protective mask as a precaution against the swine flu as he stands guard outside the ASEAN 3 Health Ministers meeting in Bangkok yesterday.
A Thai soldier wears a protective mask as a precaution against the swine flu as he stands guard outside the ASEAN 3 Health Ministers meeting in Bangkok yesterday.   (AP Photo/David Longstreath)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

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. - Statement from ASEAN health ministers

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
0 comments
VIEWING:
 
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

189 Stories

h1n1 outbreak

Flu Pandemic Slacks Off, But 'It's Not Over'

Tamiflu-resistant cluster crops up in NC; 3 of 4 patients dead

Nov 20, 09 4:25 PM CST
(Newser) - The swine flu outbreak is slacking off in some areas, but don't get complacent, officials say: Pandemics naturally fluctuate. "There can be multiple ups and downs over the season," says a CDC doctor. "We have many weeks ahead of us where disease is going to be circulating.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • influenza • Tamiflu • Duke University Medical Center. • pandemic • antiviral drugs • swine flu • H1N1 virus • CDC

h1n1 outbreak

Swine Flu Mutation Worries Norway Scientists

CDC official says it's no cause for alarm

Nov 20, 09 1:37 PM CST
(Newser) - Norwegian scientists say they've discovered a mutated version of swine flu in two patients who died and another who is severely ill. The mutation "could possibly make the virus more prone to infect deeper in the airways and thus cause more severe disease," said the nation's health institute.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Norway • mutation • mutations • World Health Organization • influenza • swine flu • H1N1 virus

Our Immune System Already Prepared for Swine Flu

Disease isn't as contagious, deadly as feared

Nov 17, 09 9:45 AM CST
(Newser) - The initial fear that swine flu is a totally new virus that your immune system isn’t equipped to handle turns out to be pure hype. According to a new study, immune systems that have previously had contact with flu viruses recognize H1N1 and deal with it the same way,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
immune system • influenza • swine flu • H1N1 virus

189 Stories


Asia plans to boost anti-flu stockpiles
Wall Street Journal

S. Korea confirms Asia's first person-to-person swine flu case
AFP


World  •  Science & Health 
TwitterFollow @NewserWorld on Twitter

 
China • Asia • public health • vaccine • outbreak • ASEAN • swine flu • H1N1 virus

from our news partners