WHO seeks $31m for bird flu

WHO seeks $31m for bird flu

THAILAND: The World Health Organization (WHO) will ask for US$31 million from a donors meeting in China in January to help Asian nations prepare for a possible bird flu pandemic, a UN official said on Thursday.

The money is needed to provide technical assistance to 11 Asian nations working on national plans to fight the deadly virus, Jay Narain, director of WHO's communicable disease department for Southeast Asia, told Reuters.

"We have no time to lose and money has to be made available so implementation of preparedness plans can start as soon as possible. Otherwise it may be too late," Narain said.

A funding request would be finalized in two weeks for submission to the Jan. 17-18 donors' meeting organized by the World Bank and the China's Health Ministry in Beijing, he said.

The $31 million would only last six months to a year and more would be needed to help poor countries boost surveillance and improve laboratories to monitor avian influenza.

Epidemiologists and lab experts from 11 Asian nations -- including hard-hit Indonesia and Thailand as well as India and South Korea -- held a 4-day meeting in Bangkok to review their pandemic plans. --Reuters