Cambodia has been selected as a partner in a series of planning exercises by the World Health Organization and Asian countries to prevent a potential bird flu pandemic.
The "rapid-containment exercise" will involve a mock scenario where drugs and protective equipment will be sent from an Asean-supported stockpile in Singapore to Cambodia, according to a statement by the WHO.
No drugs or equipment will actually move, but Cambodian authorities will have to communicate with Singapore and other partners in the region as though they were real. In a real distribution, Cambodian authorities would be in charge of making sure the equipment was brought through customs efficiently and the imaginary drugs stored properly.
The exercise, called "PanStop," will take place April 2 and April 3 and "is expected to yield practical information about the efficiency of procedures, discover gaps in planning, build on strengths and identify opportunities for improvement of rapid response and containment planning," according to the statement.