Biosecurity risks are an increasing concern in Southeast Asia. An outbreak of infectious disease in the region, whether the result of a deliberate attack, an accidental release, or a natural occurrence, could threaten global commerce. It could also affect the security and stability of US allies and interests along the increasingly contentious South China Sea. In addition to the persistent threat of emerging diseases, porous borders and increased terrorist activity in Southeast Asia are continuing to add to this region's biosecurity concerns. In response to the growing biosecurity risks, it is important for the United States to work with partner nations in the region to build bridges of cooperation, share information, and identify practices to manage and diminish the risks posed by biological threats.

For these reasons, the UPMC Center for Health Security initiated and facilitated a Track II (nonministerial) dialogue between Singapore and the US on biosecurity in 2014, and subsequently expanded this dialogue to include Indonesia and Malaysia in 2015. Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia are all important partners of the United States in trade, health, and defense. Relations among this group of nations are of strategic consequence to the United States in Southeast Asia. Toward those ends, this multilateral biosecurity dialogue explores the biosecurity landscapes of the participant nations; studies policies and frameworks for addressing biological risks; strengthens partnerships among the 4 nations for addressing biological threats; and shares lessons learned and best practices for enhancing and sustaining biosecurity.

The dialogue sessions are attended by approximately 5 highly respected participants from each country, representing academia, government, and the private sector and including experts in biosecurity, biosafety, global health security, the life sciences, journalism, healthcare delivery, and regional security. In these dialogues, participants have discussed a range of biosecurity-related issues, including pandemic influenza, laboratory biosafety, the deliberate misuse of biological agents and laboratory materials, the security issues posed by dual-use science, and destabilizing infectious disease outbreaks, among other important areas in biosecurity.

One immediate purpose of the dialogue is to benefit the participants in building ties and increase their knowledge about biosecurity plans and responses. A longer term purpose of the dialogue is to inform policymakers from the participant nations about ongoing and emerging biosecurity issues, practices for addressing a range of biosecurity threats, and priorities for developing regional prevention and response mechanisms that will mitigate the effects of international, accidental, and naturally occurring biological threats.

This multinational effort has been supported by the Project on Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering WMD (PASCC) and sponsored by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). In supporting dialogues of this type, PASCC aims to cultivate national and international research community partnerships across domains of expertise; bring scientific, technical, and social science experts together; and look ahead to understand and anticipate weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capabilities and threats. The Singapore-Malaysia-Indonesia-US dialogue is planned to be continued at least through 2016, further expanding the areas of biosecurity cooperation the United States has in Southeast Asia and contributing to shared knowledge of how these nations would detect and respond to biosecurity threats.

Read Full Report