Indonesia Voices Concern Over Biological Warfare Threat
Jakarta. Health security is expected to increasingly become a global concern in the coming years and Indonesia is particularly worried about biological warfare, a senior member of the country's military said.
This comes as a three-day international conference on health security, attended by representatives from 50 countries, began in Jakarta on Tuesday (24/10).
The first ever civil-military initiative on health security, funded by the World Health Organization (WHO), is expected to produce an accord on joint efforts to tackle issues such as global virus outbreaks.
"It won't be legally binding, but we'll agree to be ready to join hands to deal with that," Indonesian Military Health Center chief Maj. Gen. Ben Rimba said.
"The impact will be extraordinary and prolonged, biologically and economically," he added.
He cited virus outbreaks in parts of the world such as Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and avian influenza.
"We're highly concerned with that if they are fabricated, being used as biological weapons," Ben said.
The Biological Weapons Convention came into force in 1975, but global concerns remain over their mass production.
Indonesia currently chairs the International Committee of Military Medicine, a WHO-supported body that seeks to strengthen cooperation among the health services of the armed forces of more than 100 countries.
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