Speakers

PHUA KAI HONG teaches Health Policy, Health Economics and Financing, and Health Care Management at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He also holds a joint appointment with the Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine. A graduate of Harvard University, Dr Phua later specialized in health services administration at the Harvard School of Public Health and health economics at the London School of Economics. He has researched and published extensively on health sector reforms, health systems, health care financing and population ageing, with a focus on the newly industrializing countries of Asia.

Dr Phua has frequently consulted in health economics and financing to many governments within the region, public and international bodies, including the Asian Development Bank, Red Cross, World Health Organization and World Bank. He has served on numerous national health policy and advisory committees in Singapore as well, most recently as Chairman of the Working Group on Promoting International Professional Services in the Institute of Policy Studies Forum on Economic Restructuring.

VERNON LEE JIAN MING is a public health professional at the Communicable Disease Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. A graduate of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, his research interests are health economics, healthcare management and infectious disease epidemiology. His current research projects include the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis of national influenza pandemic preparedness strategies, the effectiveness of HIV rapid test kits in the population, and the costs of care for HIV in Singapore, among others. After the Asian tsunami hit last year, Dr Lee was also the Preventive Medicine Team Leader of the Singapore Humanitarian Assistance Support Group dispatched to aid Meulaboh, Indonesia from 31 December 2004 to 24 January 2005.

Abstract

Avian influenza is of great interest and concern to governments in the event of an impending influenza pandemic and many experts have predicted that the avian influenza outbreak could be the triggering factor. Countries in South East Asia need to initiate collaborative strategies and plans to counter the effects of such pandemics. Policies that are initiated must take account of the limited resources available and the need to optimise the relative capacities of national public health systems throughout the region.

This seminar will include a brief description of the origins and epidemiology of avian influenza since its discovery in the late 19th century, and its significant impact on the health of local populations, with mortality rates postulated to match or exceed that of the 1918-19 Spanish Influenza pandemic. Public health strategies such as the stockpiling of anti-viral agents will be discussed together with other options available for combating the spread and effects of a pandemic. Governments across the region have to grapple with the policy implications of their decisions in relation to the economic and social consequences, as well as the possibilities for collaboration and cooperation. The seminar will provide insights into the growing threat of emerging infectious diseases as illustrated by the Avian influenza problem, and realistic policy options for countries in South East Asia.

You are cordially invited to the Seminar.

By Fax: 6775-6264 / 6775-6259

The Seminar Co-ordinator
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace
Singapore 119614

I will be able to attend the Seminar on Avian Flu in South-East Asia: Policy Issues and Options for the Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases by Dr Phua Kai Hong and Dr Vernon Lee Jian Ming on Monday, 12 September 2005 at 3.00 pm at the Seminar Room II, ISEAS.

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Please complete the Reply Form and return by fax to the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies or email: karthi@iseas.edu.sg  by Friday, 9 September 2005.

Notes:       1.     All registrations will be taken as confirmed unless otherwise notified.

2.         Parking is available at the Heng Mui Keng Complex Carpark, located next to ISEAS Building.  At the carpark, please take the lift to LEVEL 6 (Lobby) and exit through the main entrance to ISEAS Building.  

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