French PM Pledges Aid for La Reunion to Fight Virus
Date: 27-Feb-06
Country: FRANCE
Author: Bernard Grollier
Villepin made the pledge at the start of a two-day visit to La Reunion which is intended to show solidarity with the distant French territory and shake off criticism that he has done too little to help it combat "Chikungunya" fever.
The mosquito-borne virus, for which there is no known cure or vaccine, has infected 157,000 people on La Reunion -- one in five of the population. French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand says it has already directly or indirectly killed 77 islanders.
"Today La Reunion has been hit and all of France is with you in the ordeal," Villepin said on his arrival on the island, a popular tourist destination off the southeast coast of Africa with a population of 775,000.
Sixty million euros of the aid will go to companies and the island's economy, 9 million is intended for research into the virus and 7 million is for preventive measures, he said.
Villepin, who is accompanied by Bertrand, has proposed clearing the island of the mosquito that carries the disease. He said 300,000 doses of repellent would be sent to La Reunion.
Chikungunya fever, which has also been found in the nearby islands of the Seychelles and Mauritius, is marked by high fever and severe rashes. Most people recover but it is very painful.
The disease can be transmitted only by mosquitoes but has been spreading quickly. The number of people infected in Mauritius has risen to 962 from 341 a week ago, the Mauritius government said on Saturday.
First recognised in East Africa in 1952, chikungunya leaves the immune system weak, proving opportunities for other diseases to set in. The name comes from the Swahili for stooped walk, referring to the posture of those afflicted.
Its spread has increased Villepin's problems at a time when his popularity has sunk, mainly because of a lack of confidence in his centrepiece plan for reducing youth unemployment.
Although the virus has been spreading for months, health concerns are particularly sensitive now because of an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu at a farm in east France.
"We are paying the consequences of the 10 lost months before the extent of the epidemic was realised," said Paul Verges, a senior communist official in La Reunion.
Villepin, a possible candidate in France's 2007 presidential election, has acknowledged the government was caught off guard.
The head of an infectious diseases service in Paris said on Saturday his team had detected the disease among about 30 people returning from La Reunion and that other medical centres in mainland France probably had similar cases.
