http://www.todayonline.com/articles/122659.asp
Asia-Pacific nations to test bird flu pandemic response[SIZE=+0]
Tuesday ? June 6, 2006
Major countries in the Asia-Pacific region will Wednesday take part in an exercise to test their response to an outbreak of a bird flu pandemic, officials said Tuesday.
The exercise, which will include the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members, will be coordinated by Australia.
'APEC Pandemic Response Exercise 2006' will force senior officials from relevant agencies from around the region to make real-time decisions to manage an outbreak.
It will involve a hypothetical scenario in which the bird flu virus has mutated into a form which allows human-to-human transmission and has escalated to a pandemic level, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said Tuesday.
"This is the first exercise in a series that will prepare the emergency management sector for a large-scale medical emergency," he said in a statement.
"The Australian government takes an all-hazards approach and this includes pandemic influenza," he added.
"That's why we have committed 100 million dollars (75 million US) over four years to address these issues in the region."
Neil Head, project director with Emergency Management Australia, which will coordinate the exercise, said the simulation would test communication links between the 21 APEC economies.
"The purpose of the exercise is to exercise communication levels between the economies," he told AFP.
The simulation will commence at about 7:00 am Sydney time (2100 GMT Tuesday) when communications with New Zealand officials commence and run for about 26 hours until links with Washington have been tested, he said.
Several APEC nations, including Indonesia and Vietnam, have suffered deadly bird flu outbreaks among humans.
APEC also includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.
More than 120 people have died of bird flu around the world since late 2003, the vast majority of them in Asia. ? AFP [/SIZE]
Asia-Pacific nations to test bird flu pandemic response[SIZE=+0]
Tuesday ? June 6, 2006
Major countries in the Asia-Pacific region will Wednesday take part in an exercise to test their response to an outbreak of a bird flu pandemic, officials said Tuesday.
The exercise, which will include the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members, will be coordinated by Australia.
'APEC Pandemic Response Exercise 2006' will force senior officials from relevant agencies from around the region to make real-time decisions to manage an outbreak.
It will involve a hypothetical scenario in which the bird flu virus has mutated into a form which allows human-to-human transmission and has escalated to a pandemic level, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said Tuesday.
"This is the first exercise in a series that will prepare the emergency management sector for a large-scale medical emergency," he said in a statement.
"The Australian government takes an all-hazards approach and this includes pandemic influenza," he added.
"That's why we have committed 100 million dollars (75 million US) over four years to address these issues in the region."
Neil Head, project director with Emergency Management Australia, which will coordinate the exercise, said the simulation would test communication links between the 21 APEC economies.
"The purpose of the exercise is to exercise communication levels between the economies," he told AFP.
The simulation will commence at about 7:00 am Sydney time (2100 GMT Tuesday) when communications with New Zealand officials commence and run for about 26 hours until links with Washington have been tested, he said.
Several APEC nations, including Indonesia and Vietnam, have suffered deadly bird flu outbreaks among humans.
APEC also includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.
More than 120 people have died of bird flu around the world since late 2003, the vast majority of them in Asia. ? AFP [/SIZE]
