more moola for relenza World vows $1.9bn for flu fightBEIJING,...

more moola for relenza


World vows $1.9bn for flu fight

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Nations attending a bird flu meeting in the Chinese capital of Beijing have pledged $1.9 billion to fight the disease, a U.S. official has said, exceeding expectations set by the World Bank.

At the start of the conference, the World Bank said at least $1.2 billion was needed over the next three years to avert a possible pandemic.

But as the two-day meeting neared an end on Wednesday, a U.S. official told news agencies that more than $1.9 billion had been promised.

"It appears they are going to get well over US$1.9 billion," The Associated Press quoted Nancy Powell, the U.S. coordinator for health, science and the environment, telling reporters in Beijing.

The United States has promised more than $334 million to fight bird flu, the largest pledged by any country.

The EU on Tuesday raised its pledge to $121 million. The 25-nation bloc, which is co-hosting the conference along with China and the World Bank, initially announced a pledge of $100 million. (Full story)

The increase came after Turkey announced a fourth child had died from the disease, the first deaths outside of Asia.

EU members are also expected to pledge an additional $120 million, Markos Kyprianou, the European Commission's health commissioner, told AP.

The country hosting the meeting, China, pledged $10 million, but Premier Wen Jiabao said developed nations should shoulder most of the financial burden.

The World Bank says nearly half of the money raised will be spent in Southeast Asia, where the virus is already well entrenched.

It has already made $500 million available in loans to help combat the disease, with the bank's president, Paul Wolfowitz, saying spending the money now is an investment against a future health disaster.

Already outbreaks have cost $10 billion, Wolfowitz told delegates via video conference.

While the disease to date has been caught only by people who have had contact with birds, experts fear that as more humans succumb to the illness, the virus could mutate, becoming transmissible between people just like a common flu.

Since the bird flu emerged in Asia in 2003, at least 77 people have died and millions of chickens and birds have either been killed or culled.

Indonesia's health ministry said a 3-year-old boy who died Tuesday was being tested for bird flu, Reuters reported. His 13-year-old sister died of the lethal H5N1 strain a few days earlier.

People have also contracted bird flu in China, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

'Be cool-headed'
Migratory birds have spread the disease to Turkey, with 12-year-old Fatma Ozcan on Sunday being the latest casualty of the H5N1 virus, health officials said.

Her 5-year-old brother, Muhammad Ozcan, also tested positive and was reported in critical condition Tuesday.

So far, 21 people in Turkey have caught the virus, with health officials saying they apparently all touched or played with birds. The latest case was reported Tuesday after preliminary tests were carried out on a child.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking Tuesday in Parliament, urged people to be "careful and cool-headed" as officials attempt to contain the crisis, AP reported.

On Monday, the government's bird flu crisis center said the country had slaughtered 764,000 fowl nationwide in its effort to contain the outbreak.

Human cases have been reported in nine of Turkey's 81 provinces. Officials have confirmed poultry outbreaks in 11 provinces and are investigating possible outbreaks in another 14 provinces.

The U.S. State Department said America has sent a team of influenza experts to Turkey to assess how to help its ally battle avian flu.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has already sent two experts to Turkey to work with the World Health Organization (WHO) at its request.

Experts say the deadly H5N1 virus poses the biggest threat in the colder months in affected regions, and could also spread in east Asia as people celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Then, hundreds of millions of Chinese will be on the move, potentially spreading bird flu in a country where the disease has spread rapidly among birds since late last year, where five people have died.

"The Chinese government has learned from the SARS experience, they know the movement of people particularly with infected birds is going to be a big challenge for them," said Margaret Chan, assistant director general of the WHO.

"They would be well advised to enhance their measures."

Meanwhile, the WHO said Tuesday that drug maker Roche has agreed to donate 2 million antiviral Tamiflu courses -- each containing 10 pills -- to poor countries, AP reported.

Last year, the Swiss company donated 3 million courses of the drug, which is believed to be the most effective treatment for bird flu.

CNN's Stan Grant contributed to this report

Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.








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