Speeches
APEC Health Task Force Seminar on Assessing Pandemic Preparedness
Remarks by Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold
Ministry of Health, Singapore
August 16, 2006
Thank you very much, Dr. Hoff, and thank you all for taking time to attend what promises to be an informative and productive seminar. Pandemic preparation is one of the most significant issues facing governments today, and nowhere is the threat of a pandemic greater than in the Asia-Pacific region. The fact that representatives from so many APEC economies are gathered here today is a clear sign that all our governments consider preparedness a high priority.
Unfortunately, we all know too well what can happen when we are unprepared for a crisis. It is easy, in hindsight, to look back and say “If only…” If only there had been enough lifeboats on the Titanic for all the passengers, hundreds of lives might have been saved. In the case of avian influenza, our challenge is to provide the lifeboats—the resources that can save lives—ahead of time. Our lifeboats are coordinated preparation, along with immediate and effective response.
Almost a hundred years have passed since the Titanic sank, and of course, the world has changed dramatically. Today, we are truly a global society. We can travel thousands of miles in a matter of hours instead of months. We can speak to people that far away instantaneously. The speed and ease with which people can travel around the globe heightens the risk of a pandemic. But technology also facilitates communication and planning. We can create networks between individuals, communities, and countries that will enable us to work together in anticipating and solving problems. And we can set up early-warning systems that will allow us to collaborate to prevent or, if needed, contain outbreaks of highly contagious diseases. The tools are here: the technology, the expertise, and the motivation. What remains is for the pieces to be put together, and events such as this one will help us achieve that goal.
With the importance of international collaboration in mind, President Bush announced the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza at the United Nations in September 2005, and our national strategy contains a significant international component. We are grateful to have all of you as partners and allies in the fight against avian and pandemic influenza.
This seminar will focus on developing and applying methods to assess pandemic preparedness. However, the next two days offer a marvelous opportunity to establish and strengthen connections with your counterparts in other countries. These connections will be the links upon which success will rest in the event of a pandemic. The rapid transmission of accurate information across borders will be crucial if there is an outbreak, and it will be much easier to achieve if those connections are already formed.
We are particularly pleased that the Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention Center is hosting this series of exercises. As many of you know, President Bush and Singapore's then Prime Minister GOH Chok Tong announced the creation of REDI during the 2003 APEC Leaders' meeting in Bangkok. It officially opened its doors in May 2004. The President and Prime Minister charged REDI with becoming a regional hub for improving the detection and response to new and emerging biological threats. The REDI Center’s activities are targeting naturally occurring as well as man-made threats. Although REDI began as a bilateral initiative, we anticipate that other APEC economies will join, which will help REDI reach its full potential as a multilateral instrument for preparedness and response in the region.
Again, thank you all for your participation, and thank you to everyone who organized these exercises. Let us hope that, by focusing on the threat of a pandemic, the APEC economies can transform a potential crisis into an opportunity to work together in pursuit of a common goal.
I wish you the best of luck in a successful seminar, and please join me in welcoming Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Yong Ying-I.