Joint Statement, 3rd Malaysia-Singapore Bilatera Meeting on SARS, Putrajaya, 11 July 2003

11 Jul 2003

The Third Malaysia-Singapore Bilateral Meeting on SARS was held on the 11th of July 2003 at Putrajaya, Malaysia. This has been the third such meeting between both nations and served as a framework for the implementation of bilateral cooperation on SARS for the mutual benefit of both nations. This meeting was held as a follow up to the 2nd Singapore-Malaysia Bilateral Meeting on SARS held at Woodlands Checkpoint, Singapore on the 6th June 2003.

The Malaysian delegation was led by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Datuk Alias Ali and The Director General of the Ministry of Health, Tan Sri Datu Dr. Mohamad Taha bin Arif. The Malaysian delegation included senior officials from the National Committee on SARS control.

The Singapore delegation was led by Mr. Moses Lee, Permanent Secretary (Health), Ministry of Health Singapore and Mr. Tan Guong Ching, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Home affairs Singapore. The delegation included senior officials from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Transport Singapore.

Datuk Alias Ali, in his opening remarks, extended a warm welcome to the Singapore delegation and looked forward to strengthening mutual co-operation and collaboration in issues on SARS between both countries. Mr. Moses Lee, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health Singapore, in his response thanked the Malaysian delegation for their warm hospitality.

Officials from Malaysia and Singapore exchanged information and provided updates on the current SARS situation, and prevention and control activities in the two countries. Both countries also briefed each other on the management of future outbreaks of SARS and other infectious diseases of international public health importance. Updates on the recommendations raised at the 2nd Bilateral Meeting were also discussed during this meeting.

Since all countries have been removed from the World Health Organisation?s list of areas with recent local transmission of SARS, the meeting agreed that both sides will maintain existing framework of mutual collaboration and cooperation for future disease outbreaks. In addition, the officials also maintained that heightened vigilance and continued surveillance is necessary for combating the threat posed by emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

Both sides were pleased with the accomplishments of the meeting that was held in an open and friendly atmosphere. Both countries looked forward to further strengthening bilateral cooperation on SARS and any other health issues that may arise in the future. To enhance the close collaboration between our two countries it was agreed that the next meeting will be held after 3 months.