Special report: Global fight against bird flu

    MANILA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) began hosting Friday a meeting of major partners to discuss regional coordination to meet the threat posed by avian influenza in Asia and the Pacific, the ADB said in a news release.

    The event is a follow-up to an informal meeting, where regional donors shared information on their bird flu projects and activities in the region, on the sidelines of the high-level conference on bird flu in Beijing in January, said ADB.

    At the Beijing conference, the international community pledged 1.9 billion U.S. dollars for the fight against avian flu, of which ADB can meet up to 470 million U.S. dollars.

    "As it was clear that our projects were complementary, we decided that we should continue sharing information, to avoid duplication and ensure our activities achieve synergy in supporting the region and the governments of Asia and the Pacific in the fight against bird flu," says ADB Principal Health Specialist Jacques Jeugmans.

    "The meeting will both share information on donor agencies' avian flu and pandemic plans and activities in the region and discuss coordination of activities," he said.

    Among those participating in the meeting are representatives ofthe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia AID and the Australian Government, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the European Commission, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Japan Bank for International Cooperation, World Bank, USAID, World Health Organization and World Organization for Animal Health.

    They will discuss animal health issues related to avian flu including surveillance and response, emergency preparedness and veterinary services.

    Other topics on the agenda are human health issues such as epidemiology, diagnosis, education and medical care as well as next steps in each of these areas.

    Last month, ADB and its development partners unveiled in Bangkok a 38 million U.S. dollar grant project designed to counter the immediate threat to the Asia and Pacific region posed by bird flu.

    Designed as a flexible response in close coordination with ASEAN, FAO, WHO, and others, the project aims to prevent or rapidly control infection at source among birds, strengthening early detection, reporting and controlling bird flu outbreaks, and rapidly managing cases of human influenza caused by the H5N1 virus.     

    It will also help prepare the region for a possible pandemic by supporting regional interagency collaboration, regional cooperation in sharing information, and strengthening regional networks.

    Besides underwriting the cost of experts, equipment, supplies, drugs and services, the project includes a 14.5 million U.S. dollar avian influenza response facility to provide emergency financing to contain outbreaks and meet countries' most urgent needs.

    The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has infected poultry in many Asian countries and has now been detected in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. Enditem