On May 2, 2006 , a ceremony
to mark the Japan-ASEAN Initiative to combat Pandemic Influenza
was held in Jakarta . At the ceremony, H.E. Mr. Mitoji Yabunaka,
Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, presented the list
of goods to be procured for the early containment of pandemic influenza
to H.E. Mr. Ong Keng Yong, Secretary General of ASEAN. Altogether
500,000 courses of Tamiflu and 700,000 sets of personal protective
equipment (PPE) will be stockpiled in Singapore under this project.
This project was based on an initiative unveiled
by Prime Minister Koizumi at the last ASEAN-Japan Summit meeting
held in December 2005. At the meeting, Prime Minister Koizumi announced
that he will help ASEAN integration and that he will contribute
7.5 billion yen (70.1 million US dollars) to ASEAN which should
include a project of stockpile against potential pandemic influenza.
Based on his initiative, a new fund, the Japan-ASEAN
Integration Fund (JAIF) was officially established on March 27,
2006 . This project of stockpile is the first project under the
new Fund. The ceremony was held to officially launch the project
as the first batch of stockpile of Tamiflu and PPE has been stockpiled
in a warehouse of Singapore .
The entire stockpile will be completed within
a few months.
Also, a seminar was held after the ceremony
to a wide range of audience including health officials from ASEAN
countries, where an expert from WHO Western Pacific Regional Coordination
Office briefed on the most effective use of the stockpile of Tamiflu
and PPE in the case of an outbreak of pandemic influenza.
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