Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21)
Countermeasures to Combat Infectious Diseases in Asia - Taipei Conference Summary

August 29, 2006
Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health

Below is a summary of the Second Conference on Countermeasures to Combat Infectious Diseases in Asia, which was held from August 22 to 24, 2006 in Taipei.

1. Date

August 22 (Tue) - 24 (Thu), 2006

2. Venue

The Grand Hotel (Address: 1, Chung Shan N. Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei, Taiwan)

3. Participants

19 people responsible for infectious disease control from 5 cities (Bangkok, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, and Tokyo).

4. Outcomes

The cities participating in the project confirmed their commitment to continue close cooperation in dealing with infectious diseases and agreed upon the following points.

(1)Expansion and improvement of the infectious diseases information network

A “Conference on Countermeasures to Combat Infectious Diseases in Asia” website will be launched to facilitate prompt and accurate information sharing by each participating city. This will be achieved by posting links leading to information (principally in English) on the situation of any infectious disease outbreaks, etc, in each city.
The Epidemiology Information Office of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health will manage the website and collect and post up-to-date information from each participating city.
From the website access will be possible to the Infectious Diseases Information Network System (in operation since January 2006) which aims to promote information exchanges between the persons in charge from participating cities.

(2)Surveys and research

Each participating city will establish their own working groups to study common concerns that each faces, such as avian influenza, tuberculosis, and AIDS. They will also share information on the outcomes of their respective working groups and explore further possibilities for joint surveys and research.

(3)Human resources development

Training on countermeasures to combat infectious diseases will be conducted in Tokyo during the current fiscal year (April 2006-March 2007). The city that will hold the training from next year and beyond will be decided at a later date.

(4) Host city for the next conference (2007)

The orientation is towards holding the next conference in Hanoi.