Bird flu battle needs $1.5B to continue

December 3rd, 2006

California - Dr. David Nabarro, the Senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, says that despite significant progress in the past year to combat the global spread of deadly bird flu, it remains a very real threat particularly in Africa.

Dr. David Nabarro, the Senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, says that despite significant progress in the past year to combat the global spread of deadly bird flu, it remains a very real threat particularly in Africa.

Nabarro, the United Nations coordinator for response to the disease, said that $1.5 billion in international assistance is needed worldwide over the next two to three years for preventive measures. In a report prepared for distribution at a conference this week in the West African country of Mali, the Bank outlined funding needs over and above $1.9 billion pledged in January in Beijing, including an extra $466 million for Africa alone.

He also said that a high-level meeting in Bamako, Mali from December 6th to the 8th discussing bird flu, would call for more donor funds for African countries to fight the disease and its H5N1 virus, which experts fear could mutate and pass from person to person unleashing a deadly human pandemic.

The report noted the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu strain had killed 76 people already this year, almost matching the death toll from the previous three years. The disease had spread to 55 countries, compared with just 16 at the end of 2005.

"Perhaps it's the continuing problems faced by African countries in getting themselves more ready to deal with the outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza and to be prepared for its consequences that led to the decision by the African Union and the European Commission and the Government of Mali to host [the meeting]. in Bamako next week," Dr. Nabarro told reporters in New York.