HONG KONG, April 26: Asian nations vowed to form a united front to halt the spread of the killer SARS virus on Saturday as the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for a global hunt to track down every case of the disease.
The pledge came at the end of a meeting of Asian health ministers and international experts in Kuala Lumpur after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) claimed 14 more lives across the region.
The respiratory illness that first emerged in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong nearly six months ago has now killed at least 291 people, mostly in Asia, and infected more than 5,000 people in 26 countries.
Several governments have already introduced sweeping emergency measures to curb the spread of the disease, quarantining thousands of people and sealing off entire buildings, hospitals and schools.
Health ministers in Kuala Lumpur meeting on Saturday ahead of an emergency regional summit in Bangkok next week turned their attention to the problem of preventing the virus from spreading internationally.
In a communique issued after the meeting, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, Japan and South Korea affirmed the need to bar SARS suspects from going to other countries. They said they were “convinced of the effectiveness of screening of passengers before they leave affected areas in preventing the spread of SARS.”
The 13 countries warned that “even one single infectious case can lead into a serious outbreak unless rigorous measures are taken.”
They agreed to “call for relevant authorities at airports, seaports, river ports and land entry points to collaborate with healthcare workers to undertake stringent pre-departure screening of passengers for international travel.”
SARS suspects are to be referred promptly to health care facilities, and persons who have been in contact with them are to be put under surveillance.
The countries will make it mandatory for all travellers from affected countries to fill up SARS health declaration forms.
They will also institute in-flight management of suspected SARS cases who develop symptoms on board, and disinfect aircraft.
Shigeru Omi, the WHO’s Asian director, said every person infected with SARS as well as anyone they have been in contact with must be found in order to halt the explosive epidemic in its tracks.
“We cannot afford to miss a single person,” Omi told the conference. “We are at a crossroads. What we decide today and at the heads of state meeting on Tuesday will determine the future course of this outbreak,” he said.
“We must be absolutely relentless in our search for every possible SARS case. We must use every weapon at our disposal. The world is watching us.”
Omi said although the number of SARS cases and deaths was not large compared to other diseases, the illness posed an “unprecedented” threat and had distinct characteristics.
“First, this virus has already demonstrated its explosive power to cause sudden outbreaks in a large number of countries,” he said.
“In some countries schools and offices are being closed, international travel has been dramatically reduced, tourism has almost disappeared and normal life has been seriously disrupted,” he said.
A second characteristic was the severe impact on health workers, Omi said.
“This is a major concern since this means that our health systems are under threat, undermining our ability to fight the outbreak,” he said.
The WHO has declared several regions no-go zones as it attempts to contain SARS, issuing advisories warning against all non-essential travel to Beijing, Hong Kong and the Canadian city of Toronto.
Concern that the virus may have mutated has arisen in Hong Kong following a series of deaths involving younger, fitter patients with no history of chronic illness. A 28-year-old man was among six new deaths reported by Hong Kong health officials on Saturday, the youngest person to die from the disease in the territory so far.
CONCERT CANCELLED: Pop icons Elton John and Billy Joel have cancelled their Toronto concert scheduled for Monday evening over fears related to the SARS virus gripping the city, concert producers said in a statement.
They said tour insurers “have been advised against the show taking place in the interest of public safety in Toronto and other concert stops.”
Some 324 possible SARS cases have also been reported in Canada.
12 INDIAN PILOTS SACKED: The Indian government suspended 12 Air India (AI) pilots for refusing to fly to SARS-affected countries unless their demands were met.
The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) had said they would not fly to any SARS-affected destination unless AI provides certificates before each flight stating that the crew on the plane has not been to SARS-affected countries, primarily Singapore and Hong Kong, in the previous 10 days.—AFP
