Vietnam Reports No Human Bird Flu Cases in Over Three Months
Posted on: Thursday, 3 November 2005, 06:01 CST
Text of report in English by Vietnamese news agency VNA website
Hanoi, 2 November: Vietnam has not detected any more patients infected with the lethal H5N1 virus that causes avian influenza since 25 July, said Ly Ngoc Kinh, Head of the Treatment Department under the Health Ministry in Hanoi on 2 November. Yet he said that now is the season for common flu in the country. A number of patients suffering from severe flu and pneumonia have been taken to hospitals in recent days. However, no one has been tested positive to H5N1 virus.
Also at the 2 November meeting of the National Steering Committee on SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] and Dangerous Epidemics Control and Prevention, Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan asked the mass media to increase their coverage of the threat of the pandemic in order to inform the people of ways to prevent themselves from being infected with the disease. The official said that between now and December, the health sector will coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to organize simulations of an pandemic in several big cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang coastal city in Khanh Hoa central province, in order to practise and prepare for such an event.
According to Duong Huy Lieu, head of the Planning Department under the Ministry of Finance, an estimated 5 trillion VND (over 316m US dollars) is needed to prevent and control bird flu amongst humans between now and 2006. He said the government has agreed to allocate 13.7m US dollars from a WB-funded national health project to finance bird flu prevention. The World Bank (WB) plans to give more support to Vietnam in the war against bird flu, Lieu added. At the meeting, representatives from the ministries of defence, police and transport said they have worked out urgent action plans to cope with a possible pandemic.
Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
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