ADB grants $4m to fight SARS<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Manila<\/p>\n
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved technical
\nassistance grants totaling US$4 million to prevent the spread of
\nSARS in China and several other countries in Asia-Pacific.<\/p>\n
A US$2 million grant will go to preventing the spread of
\nSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the Chinese provinces
\nof Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Yunnan, ADB officials said.<\/p>\n
A second grant, also worth $2 million, will support similar
\nefforts in other Asia-Pacific countries.<\/p>\n
Geert Van Der Linden, special adviser to the ADB president,
\nsaid that the second grant could be increased to $5 million if
\nthere is a great need and if they find the money is being used
\nproperly.<\/p>\n
ADB director Bradford Philips stressed that any ADB member
\ncountry can submit proposals for projects to be funded by the
\ngrant, including countries which still have not recorded any
\ncases of SARS.<\/p>\n
So far, Laos has already started negotiations for some
\nfunding.<\/p>\n
Other countries were keeping their negotiations under wraps to
\navoid bad publicity, Philips said, remarking "you don't want to
\nhave a SARS campaign when there is no SARS."<\/p>\n
ADB senior director William Fraser also stressed that there
\nwere few SARS cases in the four Chinese provinces covered by the
\ngrant to China but that the ADB believed they warranted special
\nattention because they bordered Central Asian countries.<\/p>\n
The ADB officials said that the grants were intended to keep
\nSARS from reaching new areas and to prepare areas to deal with
\nthe threat.<\/p>\n
They said there was no need for panic over SARS as experience
\nshowed it can be contained.<\/p>\n
China has been the hardest-hit by the SARS crisis which has
\nclaimed over 700 lives and resulted in more than 8,000 infections
\nworldwide.<\/p>\n
The ADB had warned recently that if SARS was not brought under
\ncontrol by end-June, economic growth could be affected.<\/p>\n
It said the damage to China and the other Northeast Asian
\neconomies would be $8.8 billion if the problem was not contained
\nby mid-year while the Southeast Asian economies could lose $3.2
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
Philips said that economic growth in the first quarter of the
\nyear had been good. The SARS outbreak was first detected in China
\nin November last year but became much more apparent in March.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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