Bangkok, Mar 16, 2006 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Asian Development Bank (ASX: ATB) and major regional development partners today unveiled a $38 million grant project designed to counter the immediate threat to the Asia and Pacific region posed by avian influenza.
The project, part of up to $470 million in funds pledged by ADB to fight avian flu, will provide resources urgently needed to help control and reduce the spread of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus among poultry and to increase the region's preparedness for a potential human influenza pandemic.
Designed as a flexible response in close coordination with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), and others, the project will be undertaken in a harmonized way with these regional partners and other national and international initiatives over the next 2 1/2 years.
It aims to prevent or rapidly control infection at source among birds, strengthening early detection, reporting and controlling bird flu outbreaks, and rapidly managing cases of human influenza caused by the H5N1 virus.
The project will also help prepare the region for a possible pandemic by supporting regional interagency collaboration, regional cooperation in sharing information, and strengthening regional networks.
"There is wide agreement that the best strategy to prevent a pandemic is to contain the threat at source, when it still affects mainly the bird populations," said Indu Bhushan, Chair of ADB's Taskforce on Avian Influenza.
"The project will enable each country to draw on the expertise and experience of others, pool resources, and respond more effectively to outbreaks, while addressing the significant gap in funding to improve readiness for a pandemic."
Besides underwriting the cost of experts, equipment, supplies, drugs and services, the project includes a $14.5 million avian influenza response facility to provide critical financing to contain outbreaks and meet countries' most urgent needs. All ADB's developing member countries will be eligible to apply for funds, with those at greatest risk to be given priority.
"WHO welcomes this support from ADB and its partners," said Dr. Lee Jong-wook, WHO Director-General. "We know that avian influenza does not stop at national borders; it is a global threat that requires both a global and a regional response."
Dr. Shigeru Omi, WHO's Regional Director for the Western Pacific, thanked ADB for what he described as its "outstanding contribution" to the fight against avian influenza. "There is much talk about an influenza pandemic being inevitable," Dr. Omi said, "but in the Western Pacific Region we believe that we still have a chance to avert a worst-case scenario. To do that, we need the support of key partners such as ADB. I am particularly happy that ADB has seen fit to provide a $14.5 million emergency fund, as this will give us the power to respond with maximum speed to any signs of a serious deterioration in the situation in the region."
Within ASEAN, the project will also initially help the ASEAN Secretariat to strengthen its coordinating role in undertaking regional programs and work plans to control and eradicate avian flu in the animal sector and prevent its evolution into a human pandemic, in close partnership with FAO and WHO.
"While affected member countries are undertaking their respective individual measures at the national level, cooperation at the regional level requires a strong and effective coordination of efforts," said Dr. Azmi Mat Akhir, Avian Influenza Coordinator at the ASEAN Secretariat. He pointed out that the ASEAN or Southeast Asia region is the "virtual epicenter" of the world's avian influenza outbreaks and spread.
FAO has been working with ADB in several ASEAN countries on transboundary animal diseases including avian flu control since last year. "This project is unique, as it provides an enhanced regional facility for the major partners to work together, in controlling avian influenza at the source - in poultry," said Dr. He Changchui, the Assistant Director-General and FAO's regional chief for Asia and the Pacific.
"ADB's assistance is very timely in supporting the global effort to control avian influenza in the region."
The project fits within a framework discussed at a high-level meeting in Beijing in January, where the international community pledged $1.9 billion for the fight against avian flu. The ADB commitment complements, at the regional level, the activities of other partners - including the World Bank - at the local level.
The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has infected poultry in many Asian countries and has now been detected in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. Human cases have been identified in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, Iraq, and Viet Nam. Experts believe that the virus could mutate into a new strain that could be easily transmissible among humans.
The potential impact of a flu pandemic would be substantial and could cripple economic growth and poverty reduction across the world. Based on WHO best-case estimates that up to 7 million people could die worldwide, a pandemic would cost Asia $297 billion in one year and throw the world into recession, according to a recent ADB study.
The ADB project is funded by $25 million from ADB's concessional Asian Development Fund, a $10 million grant from its Japan Special Fund, financed by the Government of Japan, and $3 million from ADB's technical assistance fund.
Contact
ADB
Graham Dwyer
Tel: 632 632-5253
Mobile: 63-915 741- 4363
Email: gdwyer@adb.org
ASEAN
Dr. Azmi Mat Akhir
Tel: 62-21-7262991 or 724-3372 Ext. 319
Fax: 62-21-7398234 or 724-3504
Email: azmi@aseansec.org
Dr. Somsak Pipoppinyo
Tel: 62-21 726-2991 or 724-3372 Ext. 396
Fax: 62-21 739-8234 or 724-3504
Email: somsak@aseansec.org
Ms. Moe Thuzar
Tel: 62-21 726-2991 or 724-3372 Ext. 393
Fax: 62-21 739-8234 or 724-3504
Email: moe@aseansec.org
FAO
Diderik Devleeschauwer
Tel: 66-1 899-7354
WHO
Ludy Suryantoro
Tel: 4122 791-4717
Fax: 4122 791-4666
Email: suryantorol@who.int
Chadin Tephaval
Tel: 66 2-288-2567
Fax: 66 2-288-3048
Mobile: 66 1-815-1226
Email: chadin@whothai.org
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