By IANS, [RxPG] International donors led by the World Bank Wednesday pledged $1.9 billion to help poorer nations control the spread of bird flu, as delegates at a donors' conference called for "rapid and decisive action" against the deadly virus.
The World Bank will provide $500 million in "global adaptable programme loans" for fighting bird flu, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz said in a speech broadcast at the conference.
The World Bank has estimated that at least $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion will be needed over the next three years to combat bird flu and prepare countries if a pandemic strain emerged.
"It is still a small sum compared with the damage that could be done if we fail to prevent the spread of the disease," Wolfowitz said.
The US offered $334 million dollars in financial and technical assistance, while the European Union and its individual member nations pledged a total of about $200 million at the Beijing conference.
Hosts China pledged $10 million.
Opening the two-day International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said: "The Chinese government will continue to provide assistance within our capacity to neighbouring countries."
He called on developed countries, international bodies and transnational companies to make greater contribution to raise funds to fight against bird flu.
"We expect countries to actively donate and support ... a financial framework on multilateral assistance on bird flu control during the on-going conference." Wen said.
He urged the international community to make full use of the advantages of various regional and sub-regional mechanisms, and draw out specific measures for bird flu prevention and control,
Bird flu experts said here Tuesday that the world urgently needed to amass a war chest of up to $1.4 billion to fight the deadly virus.
The H5N1 virus is already endemic across parts of Asia where millions of birds have been culled. It has also been found in wild birds and poultry in a third of Turkey, bordering Europe.
H5N1 has infected nearly 150 people in six countries, killing more than half its victims. Bird flu has killed at least 79 people since 2003.
Nearly 700 delegates representing more than 100 countries are attending the conference in a bid to pool financial resources to curb the spread of bird flu.
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Indo-Asian News Service
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