Malaysia is exploring the establishment of an Asean centre for disease control to combat the deadly Sars virus, Health Minister Chua Jui Meng said today.

"We hope, within the Asean region, to set up a disease control centre where all the countries will pool resources to fight the outbreak," he told a group of local and foreign investors at a briefing in Kuala Lumpur.

Chua told reporters later that officials were still discussing the details and Malaysia may raise the proposal when East Asian health ministers meet here Saturday o­n the Sars crisis.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has invited China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan to join the meeting.

Chua said Vietnamese and South Korean ministers were unable to attend while Japan had yet to confirm. Canada, which has recorded 16 Sars death, would participate as an observer. Two World Health Organisation (WHO) officers will also attend.

"We realise how important it is to cooperate to fight the Sars disease. East Asia will work together. We will share information," he said.

Groundwork meeting

China will be represented by its vice health minister Huang Jie Fu, and Chua said the presence of China, which has recorded 110 Sars deaths, was a "big step forward".

"China has suffered. We want to listen to them o­n what has happened, what are the measures and maybe we can learn from each other," he added.

Senior officials will meet Friday to lay the groundwork for the ministerial meeting, which comes ahead of an Asean leaders summit in Bangkok o­n April 29 to discuss Sars.

The meeting at a luxury hotel outside Kuala Lumpur will focus o­n tightening control measures, health declaration cards and sharing laboratories to fight the spread of Sars, officials said.

Five of the 10 Asean members have recorded Sars-related deaths -- Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. AFP