The 9th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) witnessed a launching ceremony for the Stockpile Phase of ASEM Initiative for the Rapid Containment of Pandemic Influenza on Monday.

The event, jointly organized by the Government of Japan and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), was aimed to support the ASEM member countries that are making efforts to counter pandemic influenza, said the joint press release by the government of Japan and the ASEF.

Reflecting this strong will, Japan expressed its willingness to take the lead on the issue of pandemic control in ASEM and proposed a project of stockpiling 500,000 doses of anti-viral drugs and sets of personal protection equipments in Singapore, said the press release by the government of Japan here on Monday.

These stockpiled items will be put under the ASEF's supervision and its distribution will be on the instruction of the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office in conjunction with the Japan International Cooperation System (JICS),said the joint press release.

The other component of the project is to establish an "ASEF Network for Public Health which will serve as a platform for enhanced collaboration on health-related issues between Asia and Europe."

The network, which is scheduled to run from 2009 to 2013, will support multi-stakeholder partnerships to meet challenges of global health security and promote experience-sharing between main players from both regions.