ASEAN health ministers agreed on Joint Statement against Zika virus

NONTHABURI, THAILAND, September 20 (TNA) - Public Health Ministers of all 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed on a Joint Statement to deal with Zika virus in the region. Thai Public Health Minister Dr. Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn (ปิยะสกล สกลสัตยาทร) told journalists of the update on Tuesday, after holding a video conference with his counterparts in other nine ASEAN member countries at his ministry in Bangkok's neighboring Nonthaburi Province earlier in the day. Dr. Piyasakol said the Joint Statement comprises of five agreed actions, including raising surveillant systems against Zika virus to meet the standard set by the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO), sharing relevant information on each country's operational mechanisms against Zika virus in line with international health regulations, enhancing each country's efficiency in surveillance and response to emerging diseases based on existing ASEAN mechanisms, strengthening each member's screening processes to ensure the precise detection of Zika virus cases for effective treatment and control and seriously conducting joint research against Zika virus outbreaks. Dr. Piyasakol acknowledged all the ASEAN health ministers agreed that the best way to prevent any Zika virus outbreak is the eradication of breeding grounds of common house mosquitoes, the carrier of the Zika virus and dengue fever, urging all Thai people to keep their places clean and strictly clear out sources of mosquitoes. According to the Thai health minister, outbreaks of Zika virus have been reported in five ASEAN member countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The Thai health minister noted that WHO has announced microcephaly, a serious birth defect with a much smaller brain than the normal size of newborns to Zika-infected mothers, a public health emergency that needs international actions to find an effective solution as it could also cause neurological disorders, called the Guillain-Barré syndrome, in patients. As Zika virus could cause the serious consequences to patients, including ailment, disabilities or even fatalites, despite its mild symtoms with possible self-recovery, the Thai health minister noted that a budget of over 29 million baht has already been spent on preventing and containing the Zika virus, as well as other emerging and repeated communicable diseases in the country so far. (TNA)