East Asia Summit leaders pledge to boost cooperation to fight bird flu
- From: "Chim" <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 14 Dec 2005 02:10:51 -0800
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Sixteen Asia-Pacific countries pledged
Wednesday to boost cooperation in the fight against bird flu, saying
they will report all outbreaks rapidly and transparently.
A joint declaration by the 16 heads of governments attending the
inaugural East Asia Summit said they'll make every effort to "enhance
national, regional and international capacities" to prevent bird flu
from transforming into a human pandemic.
They also agreed to improve "national policies for prevention and
control of emerging infectious diseases in general," the statement
said.
Most of the 69 deaths and 135 infections from the virus since 2003 have
been traced to contact with diseased birds, but experts fear a global
pandemic if H5N1 mutates into a form that spreads between humans.
The victims of bird flu have mostly been from the region represented
Wednesday's summit among the 10 countries of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, Japan, South Korea, India,
Australia and New Zealand.
The statement said the 16 leaders vowed to make every effort to control
and eradicate bird flu in domestic poultry, and "ensure rapid,
transparent and accurate risk communications among participating
countries."
They also agreed to work together to set up a network of stockpile of
antiviral drugs with the technical support of the World Health
Organization and other bodies.
The document reflects concerns that governments may hesitate in
reporting outbreaks of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain in order to
avoid harming tourism and their economies.
China, which last month confirmed its first human cases on its
mainland, has denied covering up its bird flu situation as it was
accused of doing during an outbreak of SARS three years ago.
However, Chinese authorities say they fear incompetent officials in
poor, rural areas may not detect and report cases as quickly as they
should.
Earlier this week, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced
a US$135 million (euro114 million) aid package to help ASEAN countries
fight bird flu.
India said it could lend its expertise in producing generic drugs to
help build regional stockpiles of antiviral medicine.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
12/14/05 02:38 EST
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. The information contained in the
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