Southeast Asia Chapter

The Southeast Asia (SEA) chapter includes countries within the southeast Asia region, especially members of ASEAN countries including Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste. The chapter’s goal is to provide a forum for cooperation within the region in education, research, and training. It aims to represent the region globally in prehospital and emergency medicine, public health, and disaster health care and preparedness.

The region, owing to its location on the tectonic Sunda plate, placement on the Pacific Ring of Fire and the tropical rain belt, and contiguity with vast bodies of water, makes the region highly vulnerable to natural disasters. Aside from this, with the varied cultural and religious backgrounds and the similar socioeconomic status of these nations, human-induced disasters and hybrid disasters are also well documented in the region.

In 2020 alone, three Southeast Asian countries were among the top fifteen (15) countries with the most natural disasters. Indonesia topped the list for that year, facing 29 natural disasters affecting around six (6.5) million people.

Watch “From the Two Realms: Disaster and Humanitarian Medicine”

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SEA Chapter Leadership

Mohd Syafwan Bin Adnan, MBBS, MMed, DM Fellowship

Co-Chair

Consultant Emergency Physician, Disaster Medicine Specialist

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)  Kuantan - Malaysia

Sally-Mae Abelanes, MD, MBA, EMDRCM, DM Fellowship

Co-Chair

Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Consultant Emergency Physician, Disaster Medicine Specialist

The Medical City, Philippines

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Chapter Committee Members

Thammapad Piyasuwanku, MD
Consultant and Attending physician
Department of Emergency Medicine
Songklanagarind Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University

Prasit Wuthisuthimethawee, MD, FRSCT
Trauma Surgery, Disaster Medicine
Associate Professor
Vice Dean for Songkhlagarind Vejchavivat Hospital Affairs,
Director, Songklanagarind Vejchavivat Hospital,
Prince of Songkla University

Lenard Cheng, MBBS, MRCEM, MScDM
Consultant Emergency Physician
Emergency Medicine Department, National University Hospital Singapore

Vision and Objectives

Vision: To be the lead reference group in advancing the agenda for emergency medicine, public health, and disaster health care and preparedness among Southeast Asian nations, serving as their voice and representative in the global community for research, development, education, training, and knowledge sharing.

Chapter Objectives:

To be representative for prehospital and emergency medicine, public health, disaster health
care, and preparedness for Southeast Asia on the global stage;
To engage member nations and connect them to other stakeholders;
To provide a forum for engagement and networking among regional WADEM members and
other WADEM members interested in supporting research in this region
To be the lead central repository for knowledge development, research, and training in
prehospital and emergency medicine, public health, and disaster health care and preparedness
for the region;
To align regional needs and development with global change and efforts;
To inspire regional development in prehospital and emergency medicine, public health, and
disaster health care and preparedness; and
To be the voice of the region in ASEAN collaborative partnerships.