December 13, 2005

 

Japan pledges US$135 million to fight bird flu in Asia

 

 

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi unveiled Monday a US$135 million-aid package to help Asian countries fight bird flu and prevent the deadly illness from turning into a new type of human-infectious disease, Kyodo News reported.

 

Koizumi made Japan's pledge of assistance at a meeting of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus Japan, China and South Korea, or the so-called ASEAN-plus-three summit, in Kuala Lumpur, Japanese officials said.

 

The Japanese government plans to disburse the money for various projects by next March to help the region hardest hit by bird flu stockpile the antiviral drug Tamiflu and vaccinate people with a high risk of infection to prevent an outbreak of a new type of influenza, the officials said.

 

Tokyo will finance part of the total cost with a supplementary budget it plans to compile for the current fiscal year through next March, a Japanese official said.

 

Under the plan, about US$46.8 million will be used to help Asian countries, focusing on ASEAN members, to stockpile Tamiflu for 500,000 people and to provide them with influenza test kits and sanitary clothing for 700,000 people, the officials said.

 

To support countries where people have been affected by bird flu infections, Japan will offer about US$49.1 million through international agencies for vaccination projects and US$19.3 million for steps to strengthen their control of the epidemic among chickens.

 

At least 70 people have died from bird flu since 2003, all of them in East Asia-- Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

 

The package also includes the US$2 million aid Koizumi announced during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last month to enhance the WHO's surveillance and drug distribution capacities.

 

Koizumi also pledged to send Japanese academic experts on infectious diseases to Vietnam, Thailand and China for joint research, and said Japan will host an international conference Jan 12-13 in Tokyo to discuss the early containment of a possible pandemic.

 

Japan will also provide training on countermeasures against bird flu to at least 100 people from Asia--including researchers, medical personnel, animal health specialists and administrative officers in charge of health care--annually over the next three years, the officials said.

 

The ASEAN group of countries consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.