Disease experts urged rich countries at an international donors conference Tuesday in Beijing to come up with the 1,5 billion US dollar (9,3 milliarder DKR) that the World Bank says is needed to tackle bird flu and prepare for a potential pandemic in humans, reports the World Bank press review Tuesday.
As the conference opened Tuesday, there was speculation that donors were boosting their previous commitments. A World Bank official earlier said that at least 1 billion dollar was expected to be pledged at the conference.
David Nabarro, the UN coordinator on avian and human influenza, said he heard that total pledges may exceed the 1,5 billion dollar target. The World Bank has said that 45 percent of the funding would be spent in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos – countries where the H5N1 virus is already endemic.
Also Tuesday, the World Health Organization said that Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG has agreed to donate another 2 million courses of Tamiflu to help poor countries battling the disease. Each course has 10 pills.
Turkeys avian influenza crisis is adding impetus to the global campaign aimed at arresting the lethal virus and may spur countries to increase financial aid to help combat a possible pandemic, a World Bank official said.
The spread of the lethal H5N1 avian flu virus from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Eastern Europe is highlighting the need for an international bird flu response, said James Adams, vice president of operational policy with the Washington-based World Bank. – If anything, people are going to commit a little larger funds than we are asking for, Adams said in Beijing.
The World Bank said in November it may give 500 million dollar in loans and grants and try to get donations of another 500 million to help developing countries fight avian influenza.
– I am fairly confident we are going to meet, and with a bit of luck, exceed expectations in terms of resource mobilization. This will allow us to reallocate some of our funds to longer-term programs, Adams said.
Another World Bank official said that the Bank stands ready to set up a trust fund to manage the money pledged at the Beijing meeting, should donors request such a measure. – Assuming that people would like to use this instrument, there would be a decision to set up a trust fund, the official said.
An outbreak of avian flu could costs the world economy 800 billion US dollar per year. Should the virus mutate and spread from human to human, the World Bank is expecting a drop in world GDP of two percent.
– We are assuming that the shock from a flu epidemic would be even bigger than from SARS, says Milan Brahmbhatt, economist for East Asia at the World Bank. The real risk for the global economy is, according to Brahmbhatt, the panic-like and uncoordinated reactions of populations to protect themselves.
This could lead to a breakdown in consumption and tourism.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
