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Asia pledges joint action to fight bird flu
Bird flu-hit Asian countries vowed on Friday to unite to fight the virus and said they recognised the need to better coordinate efforts between health and farm agencies at national level.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:33 May 3, 2009
New Delhi/Bangkok: Bird flu-hit Asian countries vowed on Friday to unite to fight the virus and said they recognised the need to better coordinate efforts between health and farm agencies at national level.
Ministers and senior officials from 11 Asian countries including China, Indonesia and Thailand agreed to share knowledge of avian influenza, including investigation of cases and outbreaks, which have killed 134 people since 2003.
In the "Delhi Declaration" agreed after a two-day meeting hosted by the World Health Organisation, the Food and Agricultural Organisation and the Indian government nations also pledged to collaborate to develop and produce drugs, vaccines and diagnosis.
India is close to developing its own vaccine against avian flu in poultry with final trials showing a 90 per cent success. Thailand also has plans to test bird flu vaccines on humans.
"We are working towards a new model of regional collaboration among countries in Asia and the commitments we have made today would require a lot of coordination between countries and international organisations," said Anbumani Ramadoss, India's health minister.
Asian countries need $500 million (Dh1.8 billion) more to combat a possible bird flu pandemic, he said.
They need about $882 million (Dh3.24 billion) to establish "reasonable levels of preparedness" for a human influenza pandemic, he said.
Meanwhile, Laos has reported an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu among chickens at a farm near the capital Vientiane, a foreign ministry spokesman said. Some 2,580 chickens were found dead last week at the poultry farm in Xaythany district.
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