Pacific plans for disease threats

Transcript

Public health officials from around the Pacific region have been gathering in Fiji this week to discuss how best to respond to the threat of emerging infectious diseases.

The World Health Organisation's Dr Eric Nilles  told Jenny Meyer the meeting is a timely opportunity for countries to review their plans and preparations for illnesses like dengue fever and Ebola.

ERIC NILLES: It's basically a committment by the member States to make sure that they have the capacity to identify any severe disease, initiate control and communicate about that severe disease to the WHO, who then notifies the international community. So that's really the background to the meeting. And we meet every two years to review the status of the respective countries and to develop common plans for the next two years moving forward.

JENNY MEYER: I guess in the last two years the mosquito borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and zika have been a real problem in the Pacific and now there's this international threat of Ebola, what are the main concerns in the region now do you think?

EN: Well I think you've quite clearly identified the two top priorities really, which is the wave of arboviruses that we've been seeing over the past two years, so dengue, chikungunya and zika virus that continue to move through the Pacific. And are causing real significant health issues and straining many public health departments in the Pacific Island countries. And we predict that we will probably continue to see this wave for the next one to two years. And then of course there is the international global concern and threat of Ebola which is a high concern for all countries globally and similarly a high concern for the Pacific Island countries. So it is clear that the risk of importation of an Ebola case into the Pacific is low, the implications could be high, the consequences could be severe.

So because the meeting is very much focussed for the Directors of Public Health level staff in the Pacific Island countries, we're using this opportunity of the International Health Regulation Meeting to have a dedicated review of planning for  Ebola and supporting the Ebola planning for the countries. So the second day of the meeting which was yesterday was fully dedicated to Ebola preparedness and reviewing of the six priority areas that have been identified by WHO. And even in the context of this current Ebola threat, the building blocks of health security are really the same, whether we're talking about Ebola or whether we're talking about other potential pandemics or emerging diseases.

JM: One of the examples that people have been concerned about in particular, is the return of peacekeepers to Fiji from Liberia, one of the countries quite badly affected by the Ebola crisis. Can you tell me what's in place to reintegrate those men back to Fiji safely, without putting themselves or the rest of the population in harms way?

EN: I will defer you to the Fiji Ministry of Health for detailed discussions of what their plans are. But I can tell you that they do have plans and well considered plans. So from WHO's perspective the risk of imported Ebola from these peacekeepers is very low.