KUALA LUMPUR—Some 2000 scientists and health experts are meeting in Kuala Lumpur (June 17–18) to discuss severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). According to David Heymann, Director of Communicable Diseases at the World Health Organization (WHO), the meeting has two objectives. "The first is to let the countries with SARS outbreaks exchange ideas about how they were controlled, and the second to see where we go next in research, continuous surveillance and all those activities that must continue now that the outbreak is apparently under control," Heymann told The Scientist.

"And we hope this type of cooperation will become the norm rather than the exception. We've been developing this approach for the past seven or so years…we're hoping this can become routine," said Heymann.

Asked whether another objective of the meeting was to raise financial support from involved governments, Heymann replied, "There's always a funding issue, although we're trying to...

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