ASEAN+3 health ministers draft an A/H1N1 plan

Health ministers from the ten nation ASEAN countries, as well as Japan, China and South Korea drafted a response plan to the A/H1N1 influenza. So far the region has been relatively unscathed, with the first four cases confirmed in Japan at the end of the week. The ASEAN + 3 statement detailed supply and information sharing between nations, as well as setting up hotlines between national health officials in the region. Meanwhile, China has made it harder for US citizens to get visas to China, requiring six processing days as opposed to the previous one day. According to Xinhua, Undersecretary-General of the United Nations Zha Zukang, was quoted saying,”the Chinese government has learned a lesson from the SARS crisis in 2003 and has established an effective and efficient health emergency response mechanism.” Some question whether countries like China are too confident, keen to prove they are far more prepared than during the SARS crisis. Just days after Zukang’s statement, the government jumped the gun, quarantining70 Mexicans around the country, many of whom were not on flights coming from Mexico.

China changes visa rules for US citizens, AP
Anger as 70 Mexicans quarantined in China , AFP
China develops diagnostic method for possible H1N1 virus, Xinhua
ASEAN + 3 releases joint ministerial statement on A/H1N1, ChinaDaily