KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has called for a unified regional guideline to deal with future health crises, Nikkei Asia reported today.

Khairy told the Japanese business wire that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc could benefit from uniformed regulations including on border closures and access to drugs to avert disruptions in the movement of goods.

"I think we should develop an Asean-level playbook so things like border closures can be avoided,” he was quoted as saying.

The suggestion was made based on lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic fallout, which sent shockwaves across the globe that can be felt until now as governments were forced to shut borders and compete for resources, including vaccines.

Khairy said disruptions to the movement of medicines or goods can hurt an "integrated zone” like Asean.