ASEAN Member States step up their measures to try to stop and mitigate the consequences of the novel coronavirus, which is spreading across the world and the region. Earlier in April, ASEAN’s health ministers reported during a video conference that they eyed to intensify regional cooperation with various stakeholders to curb the spread of the disease.
The organization’s efforts are based on the ASEAN Post-2015 Health Development Agenda (APHDA) and its Governance and Implementation Mechanism (GIM), according to which the Member States cooperate in adopting corresponding health measures, exchanging technologies, sharing information etc. The Member States increasingly use digital technology and artificial intelligence for efficient informational exchanges, surveillance and detection of outbursts.
For instance, they successfully implemented the mechanism of big data analytics and visualization ASEAN Bio Diaspora Virtual Center, which is a real-time web-based risk assessment tools, linking multiple datasets including air travel data, demography data of ASEAN Member States, human population density, animal populations, industrialization and utility distribution, vector locations, and other relevant datasets.
Risk Assessment Report, which is formed regularly on the basis of the mechanism, provides valuable data for addressing the crisis and is available for everyone online. For example, it includes travel advisories, up-to-date overview of the situation on the ground etc.
In future, the ASEAN Health officials are committed to expand and strengthen regional mechanisms to prevent such crises and address them more efficiently on the basis of experience gathered during this pandemic.
Source: ASEAN