Border health issues discussed at meeting By Jenne Lajiun
KOTA KINABALU: Cross-border and multi-sector surveillance and coordination are important in tackling threats from emerging and re-emerging diseases.
Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Edward Yong Oui Fah, cited that among the recent health threats were the avian influenza in poultry in Kelantan and malaria in the border districts of Perak and Kelantan as well as rabies which has re-emerged after so many years in Sarawak.
“As we are all aware, public health threats know no boundaries and can disrupt socio-economic activities of both affected and nonaffected countries. We are living in a region where there have been many outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging diseases especially in the past few years,” he said.
Speaking at the 30th Malaysia-Thailand Border Health Goodwill Committee meeting held at the Ming Court Hotel near here yesterday, Yong also said that as the border provinces and states of Thailand and Malaysia have many common aspects due to their similar geography, weather and people, occurrences of diseases peculiar to both countries would also be common.
“As such, it is crucial for us to continue to build linkages between our nations with the aim of strengthening the ability of our health systems to prevent, detect and respond to emerging infectious diseases,” he said.
With regard to the meeting, Yong said that it will enable the participants to focus on mutually important questions related to border health issues that will benefit both countries.
“We do believe that the 30th Malaysia-Thailand Border Health Goodwill Committee meeting is a valuable initiative that greatly contributes to border and regional health security,” he said.
“The discussions include public health, medical development, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and food safety and quality control that would be beneficial to successful bilateral cooperation on health matters between our countries,” he said.
“These discussions, in addition, would provide us with a chance to share technical knowledge, expertise and experiences while increasing multi-sector alliances between our countries,” he said.
Meanwhile, during a press conference held later, Yong stressed on the importance of taking precautionary measures to ensure the people continue to be safe from diseases affecting other countries.
He reminded that the avian flu that had largely affected Hong Kong at one time had also affected Sabah.
At the same time, reporters were also informed that bilateral cooperation does exist between Sabah, the Philippines and Indonesia on matters concerning border and regional health security.
Reporters were told that the Health Department here had collaborated with the two countries on various issues and the recent one was not merely about rabies but also on other fields.
Perak health director Datuk Dr Hassan Merican, in his speech, described the meeting as an important gathering and a platform for the border provinces in Thailand (Narathiwat, Yala, Songkhla and Satun) and states in Malaysia such as Kelantan, Perak, Kedah and Perlis to promote better bilateral relationships among the provinces and districts in managing health issues.
He said it was originally established as a common forum for both neighbouring countries to discuss various arising health issues affecting the two countries.
He explained that the meeting was held annually and alternately hosted by the four border provinces and states of Thailand and Malaysia.
“This has been a very beneficial and valuable initiative whereby the four neighbouring provinces and states are able to share information and experiences, discuss health issues raised and seek feasible solutions to promote better health-care system for both countries,” he said.
A total of 100 Malaysians and 107 participants from Thailand took part in the meeting. The delegates from Thailand were led by the Inspector General Region 12, Dr Panpimol Wipulakorn.