Asean plus three to boost antiviral stockpile

Philippines Health Secretary Dr Francisco T Duque III (R)//Photo by Nanthasit Nitmatha

Health ministers from Asean and its dialogue partners from China, Japan and South Korea yesterday agreed to boost the stockpile of antiviral medicine and protective equipment to fight the deadly influenza Type A (H1N1).

A joint ministerial statement, issued after a special meeting in Bangkok, said the grouping "should assess the potential need for and increase national stockpiling of antiviral and other essential medicines, medical supplies and personal protective equipment to the level necessary for effective response in view of the dynamics of the spread of the virus".

However, the ministers were not specific on the size of the stockpile to be achieved.

"It is extremely difficult to raise the standard, because the World Health Organisation does not have a [precise] formula for that," said Philippines Health Secretary Dr Francisco T Duque III, who chaired the meeting.

There are several versions of the projection rate for stockpiling during an epidemic, ranking from sufficient stock for 2 per cent of the population through to 50 per cent at the other extreme, he said.

"But that [the high projection] is very hard to comply with, as it would require billions of dollars of investment," Duque said during a press conference.

Asean, which has a population of 560 million, has a stockpile of the Tamiflu antiviral drug that is sufficient to treat 500,000 persons.

The stockpile, which is based in Singapore, has been divided equally among the 10 members of the Asean, said Dr Enrique Amar Tayag, the Philippines' director of Health-National Epidemiology.

There are indications that the stockpile will be increased but there is no exact figure, he said.

Japan yesterday announced a donation of 500,000 doses of antiviral medicine and hundreds of thousands of sets of protective equipment for the region, should the H1N1 virus spread across Asia.

The ministers yesterday agreed to consider implementing exit screening as a cross-border disease-control strategy. They also agreed upon criteria to classify "affected areas" instead of "affected country", in order to minimise the impact of an outbreak on travel and trade.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not called for travel restrictions or for the closure of borders, Duque said. Such measures have not been proven to be effective in preventing transmission and may even give rise to more difficulties, including social and economic effects, he said in a statement.

The Asean+3 health ministers agreed to foster collaboration in the region to ensure sufficient and prompt sharing of information in an epidemic situation, and to establish hotlines among national health authorities for an effective response.

They will establish joint outbreak investigation and response teams across countries and will enhance laboratory support for the investigation and confirmation of the virus.

Without going into detail or talking about commitments, the ministers also mentioned the transfer of technology related to the production of antiviral medicines and pandemic influenza vaccine in accordance with World Health Assembly resolution 61.21.

As of yesterday, the WHO had reported 2,371 laboratory-confirmed Type A (H1N1) infections and 44 lab-confirmed deaths in 24 countries.