¡¡¡¡Special Report: Worldwide fight against bird flu

    SINGAPORE, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Experts attending the Lancet Asia medical forum on flu pandemic in Singapore stressed Thursday that detailed pre-planning for the threat is very important.

    The experts agreed that the problem the world is facing is not whether flu pandemic will occur, but when it will occur and how to prepare for it.

    Roy Anderson, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College in London, said at a media briefing that flu pandemic will have an unprecedentedly serious impact on the world if it does happen.

    He emphasized that governments worldwide need to analyze the situation, identify their policies and speed up actions to deal with the complex problem which involves not only health and agriculture, but also education, energy, transportation and food supply.

    He added that government departments should join up efforts to work out a uniform and detailed plan for the whole country.

    Jai P. Narain from the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Southeast Asia noted that the WHO has been rendering technical assistance to countries in the region to help them mobilize resources, build up pandemic management capacity at the country level and share information and experience among them.

    Some 500 scientists, public health experts, policy makers and nearly 300 international organizations from 52 countries and regions are participating in the two-day forum which ends on Thursday.

    The first of its kind in Asia, the forum is co-organized by The Lancet, the renowned British medical journal, Elsevier Health Sciences, the American publisher of health science books and journals, and Reed Exhibitions. Enditem