Apr 29, 2009, 11:36 GMT
Phnom Penh - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday called on South-East Asian leaders to hold an emergency meeting to agree on a regional strategy to stem the spread of swine flu.
'We need to have an emergency meeting of ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) to address this deadly disease as soon as possible,' he told a graduation ceremony at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh.
The premier called on ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan to organize the meeting and invite health ministers from all member countries.
Surin said in a statement that the ASEAN Secretariat was organizing a teleconference of regional health ministers and that 500,000 courses of antiviral drugs were available to the 10 member states.
Hun Sen added Cambodians should not panic and that it was still safe to eat pork products.
Staff at the country's two international airports continued scanning passengers with thermal imaging equipment but no suspected cases of swine flu have been reported in the country.
There are no direct commercial air routes to Cambodia from Mexico, the United States, Spain or any other swine flu-affected countries, but dozens of flights arrive daily from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Taiwan and South Korea.
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