A major international pandemic preparedness exercise closed in Phnom Penh on Friday 20 August, having explored key issues that Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) need to consider when preparing to face future pandemics. The event, which was a first-of-its-kind anywhere in the world, saw ASEAN Member States work together in a 5-day simulation to prepare for the occurrence of a major pandemic.
ASEAN Member States and the international community, including humanitarian organisations and technical experts, identified possible impacts of a severe pandemic on essential services such as energy, transportation and finance, and the key challenges associated with responding regionally and internationally to such a crisis. Participants gained more understanding of the existing regional preparedness and response plans, current gaps in those plans, and mechanisms that can be used in response efforts. Participants also confirmed the essential service sectors that must be supported in a response and identified planning and response elements, and issues required to ensure continuity of operations by governments and civil society at national and regional levels.
The participants identified points for action by ASEAN, the Member States, and other regional and international organizations and nations that provide assistance, as well as addressing improvements to how ASEAN Member States should coordinate and cooperate amongst themselves, with the United Nations (UN) and other key international agencies. The lessons learnt from the exercise will facilitate participants to make improvements in their respective strategies, protocols and plans, and strengthen existing standard operating procedures, and plans for interagency and cross-border cooperation.
The week-long event, which was hosted by ASEAN, the UN and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), saw the participation of over 130 high-level participants from governments, UN agencies, international bodies, non-governmental organisations and ASEAN Member States Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Speaking during the event, the Minister of Health of the Royal Government of Cambodia, HE Dr. Mam Bun Heng, stated that, ‘the exercise has been instrumental in highlighting the non-health sectors that can be disrupted during a pandemic, preventing a government from responding to its full capacity. The exercise has also shown how, by working together across Member States, we can better prepare for times of crisis, to the benefit of our individual nations and the region as a whole. The simulation has showcased the true merits of collaboration in times of disaster and has left us better placed to deal with future pandemics’.
Also speaking at the closing ceremony of the exercise, ASEAN Secretariat’s Director for Cross-Sectoral Cooperation Directorate, Mr. Dhannanjaya V. Sunoto, said that, ‘I feel that we have emerged stronger as a region after this week. However, a greater task lies ahead. We now have to work closer together to strengthen our pandemic preparedness and response plans.’
The ‘Southeast Asia Regional Multisectoral Pandemic Preparedness and Response Table Top Exercise: Managing the Impact of Pandemics on Societies, Governments and Organisations’, was funded with support from the USAID.
