bird-flu funding boosted to vietnam

Bird-flu funding boosted to Vietnam

29nov05
BIRD flu-hit Vietnam and neighbours Cambodia and Laos are to get a $US30 million ($40.6 million) grant from the Asian Development Bank (ABD) to contain the spread of the virus and other diseases, the Philippines-based lender said today.

The bank is providing 77.4 per cent of the total cost of the containment project, with the World Health Organisation and the three governments pitching in the balance, the bank said.

Vietnam accounts for the vast majority of the human fatalities from the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, and health authorities have said that if a human pandemic occurs it is likely to start in South-East Asia, where bird flu has killed millions of birds.

"The project aims to help stem the spread of epidemic disease at local level, and at the same time reduce the burden of common endemic diseases in the targeted provinces by about 15 per cent, and more for certain infections," said ADB health specialist Vincent de Wit.

It would help the three countries develop surveillance and response systems, and improve their ability to implement the new International Health Regulations of the WHO.

Twenty-six target provinces, including 15 in Vietnam, were chosen for their regional links, high burden of infectious diseases and vulnerability of their populations to integrate and improve communicable diseases control, including for neglected diseases and HIV/AIDS, the bank said.

The grant would be administered within the framework of the ADB-backed Greater Mekong Subregion economic cooperation program.

Mekong region leaders earlier this year proposed stronger regional collaboration for the control of communicable diseases in view of the continuing threat from HIV/AIDS and emerging infectious diseases such as avian influenza.

The emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003 and avian influenza in the last two years have demonstrated that, apart from the human cost, the economic impact from these diseases can reach billions of dollars because of declining tourism, reduced flows of foreign investment and export restrictions, the bank said.