MANILA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to spend US$58mil (RM215mil) on two projects to help combat avian influenza in Asia and the Pacific.

A bank statement said its board is already considering a US$30mil (RM111mil) project for regional communicable disease control in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

“The project will help the region improve control of various  endemic        and        emerging

communicable diseases --- including avian flu --- within the framework of the greater Mekong sub-region cooperation programme”, Vincent de Wit, an ADB health specialist said.

But with the increasing risk of a pandemic the ADB is to set aside an extra US$28mil (RM104mil) to specifically address the issue in Asia and the Pacific.

For the project the bank will be working  closely  with the World

Health Organization, UN Food and Agriculture Organization and World Organization for Animal Health, and other development partners.

“The project will support the regional effort to improve disease surveillance systems, strengthen countries’ response to outbreaks among the animal and human population, and boost health systems’ readiness”, the bank said.

ADB    is    already    involved  in

dealing with the disease, in particular through its support of the WHO’s Manila office, which covers the western Pacific region, under a regional technical assistance project that was established to address the SARS outbreak of 2003.

The current manifestation of bird flu has already had an impact on poor and rural communities. Almost 140 million domestic birds have either died or been destroyed, and more than 60 people are known to have died. --- AFP.