Bird Flu (Avian Influenza)
Documents & Texts from America.gov
30 October 2008
Egypt Meeting Increases Total Avian Flu Assistance
By Cheryl Pellerin
Staff Writer
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt — With an extended burst of applause, representatives from more than 120 nations closed an international meeting whose focus was highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza and the need to control and then eradicate the virus in poultry and prepare the planet for a human pandemic.
The Sixth International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, held October 25–26 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, produced pledges of financial assistance from the United States, Japan and Norway of more than $350 million and offers of technical assistance from many countries to more vulnerable nations. (See “United States Contributes $320 Million to Global Avian Flu Fight.”)
“Newly developed international health mechanisms have resulted in a coordinated global approach [to avian flu and other infectious disease threats],” Paula Dobriansky, under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs and head of the U.S. delegation, told attendees October 25.
“International focus on the twin threats,” she added, “both from the spread of avian influenza in domestic and migratory birds but also from a possible viral mutation that would cause a potentially devastating human pandemic, has led to action worldwide.”
Officials addressing the conference were Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif, Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza, Health Minister Hatem el-Gabalyaza and World Organization for Animal Health Director Bernard Vallat.
“Our conference should spare no effort in enacting concrete and strong actions to combat the imminent threat of avian influenza. Following the example of Egypt, transparency should be the cornerstone of our strategy,” el-Gabalyaza said.
“Raising the citizens’ awareness by creating efficient communications and media coverage and pooling our resources are important measures to be embraced worldwide,” he added. “We need, more than ever before, strengthened partnerships among science, policymakers, industry, the business community and civil society.”
Also addressing the meeting were World Bank Vice President Jeffrey Gutman, Food and Agriculture Organization Deputy Director-General Jim Butler, World Health Organization Deputy Director-General Anarfi Asamoa-Baah and U.N. System Influenza Coordinator (UNSIC) David Nabarro.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES
More than 530 conference participants — including 63 government ministers, senior officials who represented 120 countries and 26 international organizations, researchers, representatives of international and regional organizations, and nongovernmental and private groups — addressed three main challenges:
• Making sure the world is prepared to mitigate the effects of a flu pandemic or another public health catastrophe.
• Sustaining efforts to control H5N1, especially in poultry, and eventually eradicate the H5N1 virus from domestic animals in countries that still suffer from it.
• Initiating longer-term action for responding to infectious diseases that emerge at the animal-human-ecosystem interface.
The government of Vietnam volunteered to host the next international avian flu meeting in 2009 or 2010.
The aim of future meetings is to maintain global momentum on pandemic preparedness and on programs that are evolving from avian flu to the broader “one world, one health” approach, in which veterinary and medical professionals join forces against emerging infectious diseases in people, most of which originate in animals. (See “Emerging Diseases Drive Human, Animal Health Alliance.”)
PEPARING FOR THE WORST
To prepare for a global humanitarian disaster that could arise as a result of H5N1 or another emerging infectious disease, the U.S government works with a growing number of countries to develop pandemic preparedness plans that seek to limit mortality.
Through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. departments of State, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Defense and others, the United States targets areas that a pandemic would affect, including health and food security.
The United States works with the private and public sectors to boost flu vaccine supplies and is disseminating overseas “community mitigation” guidelines like those it recommended to U.S. citizens that will help save lives in the early days of a pandemic.
Such measures include isolating patients in their homes, voluntarily quarantining close contacts of those who have flu and limiting — during times of threat — otherwise routine patterns of socialization (school attendance, social gatherings) among children and adults.
“Global health issues are intertwined,” said Ambassador John Lange, special representative for avian and pandemic influenza at the State Department. “Our multidisciplinary efforts against pandemic influenza must also enhance the global management of other potentially fatal diseases that will continue to take a high toll during a pandemic.”
To respond to this need, the United States is helping countries plan for maintaining AIDS patients on anti-retroviral medications and tuberculosis patients on treatment throughout the course of a pandemic.
A pandemic could last for months and the crisis could be worsened by food scarcities. The United States and its partners are exploring how to warehouse staple foods for distribution during a pandemic and developing a strategy for producing ready-to-use foods if countries cannot bring enough food to market.
These efforts, Lange said, are only a fraction of the necessary global response.
“The humanitarian challenges during a pandemic will be staggering and require a collective endeavor,” he added. “The United States is deeply appreciative of the cooperation we enjoy with the international community. We look forward to continued collaboration in advance of that moment when the strength of our work together will be put to the test.”
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
In the final session of the conference, the government of Egypt presented its Vision for the Future document, which defined priority areas for future actions.
These included addressing inequities among poorer and richer countries in avian flu response capacity and pandemic preparedness, eradicating H5N1 in poultry, and the continuing need to develop, test and update pandemic plans and improve information and material sharing and transparency.
The document also called for countries to enhance strategic communication and policy advocacy at high levels, prevent and respond to emerging diseases of animal origin and improve education, training and research and development.
More information about the International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza is available on the meeting Web site.
| 
Documents & Texts