Thailand will host the ASEAN Plus Three Health Ministers Special Meeting on Ebola Preparedness and Response and the Preparatory Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development. The Cabinet has approved the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to jointly organise the meetings, which will take place at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel in Bangkok on 14-15 December 2014. The objectives are to update the situation of Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and other affected areas and to review the progress of national preparedness in ASEAN Plus Three Member States and to assess the ongoing international responses to Ebola outbreaks in affected countries.
The ASEAN Plus Three Health Ministers are expected to issue a clear policy statement and come up with concrete recommendations and follow-up actions, particularly the political commitments to ensure preparedness and effective response. Participants will include the health ministers and senior health officials of the ASEAN Plus Three Member States, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Korea.
The 2014 outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is one of the largest Ebola outbreaks in history. It has continued to escalate, killing thousands of patients and causing serious social and economic impacts in the affected countries. Thailand remains on high alert against this disease, although there have been no reported Ebola cases in the country.
