Joint Statement For 2nd Singapore - Malaysia Bilateral Meeting On SARS, 6 June 2003

06 Jun 2003

Officials from Singapore and Malaysia met on Friday, 6 June 2003 at Woodlands Checkpoint, Singapore. The meeting was a follow-up to the 1st Malaysia-Singapore Bilateral Meeting on SARS held in Putrajaya, Malaysia on 16 April 2003.

The Singapore delegation was led by Mr Moses Lee, Permanent Secretary (Health), and Mr Tan Guong Ching, Permanent Secretary (Home Affairs) and comprised officers from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Home Affairs, as well as other officials. The Malaysian delegation was headed by Datuk Alias Ali, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health and Tan Sri Datu Dr. Mohamad Taha bin Arif, Director General of Health. Delegation members included senior officials from the National Committee on SARS Control.

In the opening remarks, the leader of the Singapore delegation welcomed the Malaysian delegation and looked forward to having frank and open discussions. The leader of the Malaysian delegation congratulated Singapore on being taken off the WHO's list of areas with recent local transmission of SARS and credited it to the concerted efforts by Singapore in managing the SARS outbreak.

At the meeting, Singapore and Malaysian officials exchanged information on the current SARS situation in the two countries. Both sides provided an update on the implementation of issues raised at the 1st Bilateral Meeting. In reference to the Common Protocol on the Referral of Suspected SARS Travellers across Land Border between Singapore and Malaysia, the meeting also clarified that travellers detected with fever at the land checkpoint would be isolated and subsequently conveyed back to their point of embarkation.

Although Singapore has been removed from WHO?s list of areas with recent local transmission of SARS, the meeting agreed that both sides will continue to exchange information on suspected cases who had a recent travel history in the other country. Singapore will continue with its pre-departure screening measures until the regional SARS situation improves.

In addition, the officials also updated each other on the progress by Malaysia and Singapore on the health screening measures introduced at air, sea & land checkpoints.

The meeting was held in a warm and cordial atmosphere. Both sides were pleased with the outcome of the meeting and looked forward to strengthening bilateral cooperation on SARS and any other health issues that may arise in the future. It was agreed that the next meeting will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 11 July 2003 to further enhance the close collaboration between the two countries.