Turkey gets aid from West
The Star, 15 Jan 2006

ANKARA: Foreign assistance was flowing into Turkey yesterday as Western countries offered money and know-how to combat a bird flu outbreak whose deadly H5N1 strain is now at their doorstep, claiming lives for the first time outside eastern Asia.

Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker announced on Friday that Turkey was to receive US35mil (RM131mil) in loans and grants from a World Bank-sponsored program to help countries struck by the disease.

A total of US15mil (RM56 mil) of that amount would come as a loan from the World Bank and the remainder would be in the form of grants from a special fund set up by countries and international organizations, he said.

The aim of the assistance is to improve Turkey’s medical technology and infrastructure to better combat the disease, which has killed three people and infected 15 others in the country since late last month.

The European Commission has also announced that it was putting aside €80mil (RM362mil) for countries struck by the flu, of which €35mil (RM158.4mil) will be allocated to Asian countries; the commission did not say what Turkey's share would be.

 Turkey can also count on a €4mil (RM18mil) advance from its so-called "enlargement" fund allocated for 2007 within the framework of its accession negotiations with the European Union.

The United States also announced on Friday that it was sending a team of experts to Turkey to "evaluate the situation" and support international efforts to combat the disease.

French President Jacques Chirac called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday to “express solidarity” and offer France’s help in fighting the bird flu, the Elysee Palace announced in Paris.

Turkish  health  authorities  meanwhile

were investigating the death on Friday of a two-year-old girl at a hospital in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey.

Eker said he did not believe the death was due to bird flu, because the girl had suffered from a lung disease almost since birth.

The head of the microbiology department at Diyarbakir University Hospital where she died said the cause of death was a bacterial lung infection and not a viral one.

Turkish newspapers yesterday reported the cases of three children who were discharged from hospitals after being cured of the deadly virus.

A doctor quoted by the daily Hurriyet said their recovery was due to strong immune systems, rapid hospitalization after contact with infected fowl, and because they had been given Tamiflu, the most effective drug against the disease. --- AFP.