Home>News Center>China
       
 

Donors' meeting opens in Beijing to fight bird flu
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-01-17 16:55

A two-day international donors' meeting aimed at raising 1.5 billion dollars to help fight bird flu has opened in Beijing, amid warnings of a "great risk" of a global pandemic.

Officials from half the world's nations gathered in China to come up with the money needed to finance a three-year action plan that was laid out at the first donors' conference in Geneva in November.

The conference comes as the disease, which has killed nearly 80 people mostly in Asia, has spread to the Middle East and onto Europe over the past year, with Turkey confirming Monday its fourth human fatality.

"We live on the same planet and our destinies are interconnected," China's vice foreign minister, Qiao Zonghuai, said in his opening address to launch the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza.

"In the fight against avian influenza, no country can stay safe by looking the other way."

Margaret Chan, the World Health Organization's special representative on pandemic influenza, gave a stark picture of the uncertainty facing the world over the H5N1 strain of the virus.

"The risk of a pandemic is great. The timing is unpredictable and the severity is uncertain," Chan told the conference.

The conference, which is co-sponsored by China, the European Commission and the World Bank, is aiming to assess the financing needs at the country, regional and global levels.

It will invite the international community to pledge financial support and discuss how to set up mechanisms to coordinate the fight against bird flu.

Qiao said there was a "significant shortfall of funds" in many affected countries and international agencies, which will "seriously hamper" their prevention and control efforts.

"Convened at this crucial moment, the pledging conference, therefore, is of great significance to mobilising necessary resources and technical assistance and enhancing international cooperation," said Qiao.

Funds raised will be given to needy countries in the form of grants and low-interest loans to help them strengthen surveillance systems.

This will include the training of agriculture and health workers and strategies to better detect outbreaks and cases, and how to respond to them.

Money will also be used to expand the global stockpile of anti-viral drugs and to prepare a currently non-existent vaccine.

Experts told the conference that for the global plan to work and the funding to be used effectively, it was crucial the global community showed strong political commitment, be transparent and coordinate with each other.

"Unless we are working as one, we don't get a good result," said David Nabarro, senior UN system coordinator for avian and human influenza.

Juergen Voegele, a member of the World Bank's avian influenza task force, said in the lead-up to this week's gathering that the spread of the virus westwards from Asia was a wake-up call for the world.

"People were under the impression that the human cases of avian influenza were confined to Asia. Now people are beginning to wake up... every country needs to do something now," Voegele said.

The deaths of four children in Turkey this month -- the first victims outside Southeast Asia and China -- have stoked fears the virus is spreading globally.

Scientists fear the more the virus spreads, the greater the chance H5N1 will mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans and spark a global pandemic that could claim millions of lives.

Since reappearing in Southeast Asia in 2003, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has infected about 150 people, killed about 80 people in six countries, the majority of them in Vietnam, according to the WHO's toll.

Officials from 90 countries and 25 organizations are represented in Beijing.



Fire kills 5 in Northeast China
Aerobatics show in Hunan
Final rehearsal
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Australia, US, Japan praise China for Asia engagement

 

   
 

Banker: China doing its best on flexible yuan

 

   
 

Hopes high for oil pipeline deal

 

   
 

Possibilities of bird flu outbreaks reduced

 

   
 

Milosevic buried after emotional farewell

 

   
 

China considers trade contracts in India

 

   
  EU likely to impose tax on imports of Chinese shoes
   
  Bankers confident about future growth
   
  Curtain to be raised on Year of Russia
   
  Coal output set to reach record high of 2.5b tons
   
  WTO: China should reconsider currency plan
   
  China: Military buildup 'transparent'
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产在线19禁在线观看| 成年女人午夜毛片免费看| 亚洲精品亚洲人成在线| 老司机深夜福利在线观看| 国产成社区在线视频观看| 69堂午夜精品视频在线| 女人18**毛片一级毛片| 中文字幕亚洲综合久久综合| 日韩欧美中文字幕在线观看| 亚洲国产成人精品青青草原| 热RE99久久6国产精品免费| 午夜爽爽性刺激一区二区视频 | 日韩av第一页在线播放| 亚洲一级毛片视频| 欧美激情综合色综合啪啪五月| 伊人色在线视频| 精品午夜寂寞黄网站在线| 国产69精品久久久久999小说| 香蕉久久国产精品免| 国产男人的天堂| 91亚洲国产在人线播放午夜| 天天操天天操天天射| 一级毛片免费在线播放| 成年性午夜免费视频网站不卡| 久久发布国产伦子伦精品| 曰本女同互慰高清在线观看| 亚洲免费观看在线视频| 欧美粗大猛烈老熟妇| 亚洲精品成人a在线观看| 男女啪啪免费体验区| 六月丁香婷婷综合| 精品视频一区二区三区| 国产2021中文天码字幕| 芬兰bbw搡bbbb搡bbbb| 国产免费人人看大香伊| 麻豆亚洲av熟女国产一区二| 国产成人精品免费久久久久| 欧美成人免费香蕉| 国产欧美日韩精品a在线观看 | 亚洲精品人成电影网| 激情伊人五月天久久综合|