ASEAN May Launch Joint Fund to Combat Bird Flu
Date: 28-Sep-05
Country: PHILIPPINES
Author: Dolly Aglay
The measures were among several endorsed by senior Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) agriculture officials meeting near Manila, two officials said.
The proposals still need to be approved by agriculture ministers when they join the meeting on Thursday.
The fund would also be used to curb the spread of other animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and hog cholera, one ASEAN official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.the official said.
"The goal in the creation of a task force against highly pathogenic avian influenza, on the other hand, is to improve trade opportunities and remove public health risk on poultry products coming from ASEAN countries," the official added.
Another official said the proposed fund would also be put towards training personnel and conducting research to halt the spread of bird flu and other animal diseases.
Experts say a lack of funds is hampering the fight against bird flu in Asian countries such as Indonesia, whose fifth bird flu victim died on Monday.
Bird flu has killed 66 people in four Asian countries since late 2003 and has been found in birds in Russia and Europe. Millions of birds have also been destroyed, wrecking havoc on the poultry industry.
The virus could set off a pandemic if it gains the ability to be transmitted easily between humans.
Earlier on Tuesday, the European Union said that it was working with three UN agencies to hold a bird flu conference in Asia before the end of the year in an effort to raise funds to battle the disease in the region.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation has also called for more funds to halt the cycle of bird flu infection in animals, saying its appeal in May for $100 million to fight avian flu in the next three years had received a lukewarn response.
"The ASEAN Secretariat is very much concerned with bird flu as well as other current and emerging diseases," Wilfredo Villacorta, deputy secretary general of ASEAN, told reporters in Manila.
Villacorta said the ASEAN secretariat would soon come up with recommendations for its members to consider.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
