广播听力:ASEAN Health Ministers Meet to Discuss Ways of Tackling Swine Flu

Delegates at the two-day conference said the meeting would be a chance to boost cooperation among governments and a way to learn from each others' experiences.(www.hXen.com)

"It is important that if it does occur in one of the ASEAN member countries, there is rapid containment and everybody will help that one country."

"In the globalised and interconnected world, to deal with an emerging infectious disease with a rapid spread, we need a strong cooperation mechanism, in particular, with regard to disease surveillance and disease control and prevention at borders without hindrance to travel and trade."

Some of these Southeast Asian nations are considered to be among the world's most prepared because of their experience responding to the SARS outbreak in 2003 and bird flu since then.

Although the virus has largely spared the region, authorities are drawing up a plan for dealing with an outbreak of the virus and taking measures to develop vaccines and bolster medicine stockpiles.