ESTABLISHING AN ASEAN EARLY-WARNING NETWORK AND MEDICAL SUPPORT ARRANGEMENTS FOR EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1227 
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER 
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 10 SEPTEMBER 2026 

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament 
Ms Hazlina Abdul Halim 
MP for East Coast GRC 

Question No. 1892 
To ask the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health whether Singapore will work with ASEAN members to establish a regional early-warning network for emerging infectious diseases, with terms of reference that would include setting (i) common standards for sharing samples and data (ii) target timelines for identifying unusual outbreaks and (iii) arrangements for Singapore laboratories to provide testing support when neighbouring health systems face limited capacity during outbreaks. 

Answer 

1       There are existing mechanisms in ASEAN to enhance our collective capabilities to detect and respond to emerging infectious diseases. For example, the ASEAN Emergency Operations Centre Network and ASEAN Biological Threats Surveillance Centre (ABVC) are platforms that enable ASEAN member states to share communicable disease intelligence. Disease surveillance information shared to the ABVC is published on an online dashboard that is updated daily.  

2       Our National Public Health Laboratory also maintains long-standing collaborative ties with their counterparts in ASEAN member states, facilitating information exchange, sharing of technical experience, sharing of reference biological materials and confirmatory testing. 

3       ASEAN is in the process of establishing the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases (ACPHEED). Once established, ACPHEED will play a central role in coordinating regional communicable disease surveillance efforts.  

4       Notwithstanding the above, a pandemic crisis is a global and not a regional event.  Global efforts to conduct disease surveillance, genome sequence high risk and novel pathogens, notify and share them promptly with the world, are essential to effective pandemic preparedness and response. The key platform today is GISAID, which Singapore is actively involved in.