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Global Influenza Meeting Sets Key Action Steps

Posted on: Thursday, 10 November 2005, 09:00 CST

Global influenza meeting sets key action steps

GENEVA, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- A global three-day meeting, which concluded on Wednesday, identified key components of a global action plan to control bird flu in animals and simultaneously limit the threat of a human influenza pandemic.

More than 600 delegates from over 100 countries agreed that there is an urgent need for financial and other resources for countries which have already been affected by bird flu, as well as for those which are most at risk, and to identify and respond to a human pandemic the moment it emerges.

"The world recognizes that this is a major public health challenge," Lee Jong-wook, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said in his conclusions to this historic meeting, which was co-organized by the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and World Bank.

"WHO is ready to focus its resources to reduce the risk of a human pandemic. We have plans on paper, but we must now test them. Once a pandemic virus appears, it will be too late," he said.

Experts and officials set out key steps that must be taken in response to the threat of the H5N1 flu virus which is currently circulating in animals in Asia and has been identified in parts of Europe.

The steps include control at source in birds, surveillance, rapid containment, pandemic preparedness, integrated country plans, and communications.

David Nabarro, Senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, said: "We must use all our assets and skills to the best effect, avoid duplication, share expertise, learn from our experiences and tune-up our ways of working. We must focus on support for existing country mechanisms and provide integrated global joint plans, programs and monitoring."

The meeting discussed key financing needs for countries in the short-, medium- and long-term.

According to an analysis presented by the World Bank, the needs of affected countries will potentially reach 1 billion US dollars over the next three years. This does not include financing for human or animal vaccine development, for antiviral medicines or for compensating farmers for loss of income due to animals which have been culled.

The meeting supported an urgent resource request for 35 million dollars to fund high-priority actions by WHO, FAO and OIE over the next six months. Additionally, surveillance, control and preparedness work in countries requires urgent funding.

"Based on our work here in Geneva over the past three days, we now have a strong business plan to take to the donors financial conference in Beijing in mid-January," said James Adams, vice- president of the World Bank for Operations and head of the Bank's Avian Flu Taskforce.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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