CHINA / National
WHO calls for cooperation to fight bird flu
(AP)
Updated: 2006-04-04 14:56
Governments must support each other in the fight against bird flu, SARS
and other emerging infectious diseases that could pose global threats to
human health and economic prosperity, a World Health Organization
official said Tuesday.
A vender unloads a duck from a truck outside a wholesale market in
Nanjing, March 24, 2006. China announced on Thursday that an
eight-year-old girl had caught H5N1 bird flu. [Reuters]
"With infectious diseases, we are only as strong as our weakest link,"
Dr. Henk Bekedam, the WHO representative in Beijing, told Asia-Pacific
officials at the start of a two-day international conference on new
diseases.
"If you do a good job over there, but if your neighboring country is not
able to detect (disease), you're still not safe. We need to support each
other," he said.
Officials from the United States, China and other governments were
gathered to discuss ways to fight infectious diseases such as bird flu
and severe acute respiratory syndrome that have emerged in recent years.
The region's governments "have paid high attention to preventing and
controlling emerging infectious diseases, yet the situation is still
challenging," said Chen Xiaohong, a deputy Chinese health minister.
Chen cited SARS, which emerged in southern China in late 2001, as a
reminder of the dangers of new, fast-spreading diseases. The disease
killed nearly 800 people worldwide in a matter of weeks.
Every year, a new infectious disease emerges and countries need to be
prepared to fight it while continuing to battle HIV/AIDS and avian
influenza, he said.
"Globalization of economies has led to globalization of disease," Chen
said. "It has exerted huge impacts on economies and international
exchanges."
The best strategy to combat new diseases is through early detection and
reporting by affected countries and the timely sharing of information,
said Bekedam with the WHO.
Bird flu, which resurfaced in Asia in 2003 and has already spread to the
Middle East, Europe, and Africa, killing at least 105 people, illustrates
the need for governments to work closely together, he said.
"We know it takes government commitment to deal with it. It is bad for
economies but if you don't deal with it, it's worse," Bekedam said.
A draft of a joint communique to be released at the end of the conference
said Asia-Pacific governments are committed to focusing on prevention and
control but also needed to beef up surveillance systems and emergency
response plans.
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
Today's Top News
� China raises bank lending rate to slow investment
� New partnership needed in new era
� China to launch lunar probe next April
� Ten killed in fatal fire in E. China city
� Chinese nationals flee Solomons
Top China News
� China hikes rates in a step to slow racing economy
� Chinese govt moves to cool economic growth
� New partnership needed in new era
� 28 'idle' doctoral students expelled
� British FM praises China as 'global player'
Learn Chinese
