Bangkok, June 28: SARS had caused economic damage more rapidly than the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Thailand's prime minister said today, as regional health ministers met to discuss ways of fighting future epidemics. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told health ministers from member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum that while the SARS virus had been largely contained, "Our work is far from finished."
"There is no telling when it will re-emerge and how much more damage it will do the next time around," he said in an opening address at Thailand's foreign ministry.
"Sars has caused economic damage more quickly than the economic crisis of 1997," he said. "Its re-emergence could cause even more devastation."
Thaksin said the disease had shown "where the chinks in our armour lie" and indicated that public health screening measures need to be revised so each country could more effectively "cope with future outbreaks of SARS or any other epidemic."
He said much was still unknown about the virus, such as whether it is seasonal.
Bureau Report