Bird flu conference opens in Beijing
The Star, 17 Jan 2006

BEIJING (Reuters) - An international bird flu conference which the World Bank hopes will raise $1.2 billion opened on Tuesday in Beijing, with delegates warning that there is no time to waste in fighting the virus. 

The money will be aimed at improving health and veterinary services in developing countries grappling with outbreaks, and at strengthening surveillance programmes in areas not yet affected. 

The virus is endemic across parts of Asia and scientists fear the H5N1 strain could mutate from a disease that affects mostly birds into one that can pass easily between people, leading to a human pandemic. 

It has already killed 79 people since 2003 and infected nearly 150. 

Human victims had been confined to East Asia until recently, when three infected children died in eastern Turkey,    bringing    the    virus   to    the

crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. 

"The situation is very serious, very worrying," Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech told Reuters. 

"You see it is going more and more towards the western part of the world... If the mobilization of the funds is not coming immediately, in a couple of months we'll need more money." 

The World Bank estimates that between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion will be needed to prepare for and respond to outbreaks, although that could rise with larger culling programmes. 

The amount also does not include human vaccines, which World Bank Vice President Jim Adams said the World Health Organization deals with separately. 

The Bank itself approved a $500 million line of credit last week towards the $1.2 billion target, and the European Union has pledged $100 million in aid. 

Adams told Reuters on Monday he hoped the money raised at the two-day Beijing conference would be mostly in the form of grants. 

Representatives from 89 countries -- both aid donors and recipients -- are attending the conference, along with delegates from more than 20 international organizations, including the WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization. 

The WHO's top China representative said last week that bird flu was testing the local health and surveillance systems of poor countries, and he hoped the money raised in Beijing could help plug those holes.