DA NANG CITY, Vietnam, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The APEC Ministerial Meeting on Avian and Influenza Pandemics will focus on beefing up cooperation among the forum's members to actively prevent bird flu pandemics, a Vietnamese official said here Thursday.

    "To facilitate the Ministerial Meeting, in the Preparatory Meeting today, the delegates will discuss on the following topics,namely strengthening of cooperation among APEC economy members in preparing for and preventing avian and influenza pandemics, preparation of the APEC Action Plan on the Prevention and Responseto Avian and Influenza Pandemics to be submitted to the APEC ministers for endorsement, and preparation of the ministerial meeting agenda," Bui Ba Bong, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said at the preparatory meeting.

    The ministerial meeting is an important and significant event during the APEC Year 2006 in Vietnam because bird flu is now a theme of global concerns, Bong said, noting that for the last three years, the world has witnessed the occurrence and spreading of bird flu from a few countries in Southeast Asia in late 2003 tomany parts of the world from East Asia to Africa and Europe presently.

    "The catastrophe of avian influenza lies in the fact that the virus is not only a killer of poultry but also of human beings. Sofar it was recorded 205 human cases from 9 countries infected withthe deadly avian influenza virus and up to 113 people among them died - a very high fatality rate of 55.1 percent," he stated.

    Some 100 delegates from 21 economy members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and international agencies like the World Health Organization discussed the three topics during the closed-door preparatory meeting. Its outcomes will serve as inputsof the ministerial meeting slated for Friday with expected participation of some 190 representatives, including 7 health and agriculture ministers and 13 deputy ministers from the 21 APEC members, the APEC's Secretariat and five international organizations.

    Over 60 representatives from APEC economies attended a workshopheld in central Da Nang city from May 2-3, seeking to build risk communication capacity, particularly in developing economies, by providing practical tools to help develop national and regional communications strategies.

    "Risk communications must be looked upon as a public health intervention that is equally as important as other interventions like social distancing and vaccination," said Ian Shugart, Chair of the APEC Health Task Force and host of the workshop.

    Nine APEC economies have suffered outbreaks of avian H5N1 influenza within bird populations, and four economies have experienced human cases of H5N1 influenza. In addition to the social costs, the spread of avian H5N1 influenza across Asia and into Europe has devastated the poultry industry in affected areas,resulting in economic losses upwards of 15 billion U.S. dollars, the workshop was told. Enditem