By IANS
New Delhi : Developing countries need to look at low-cost options to fight pandemics like avian influenza, India’s Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said at the three-day International Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza in the capital Tuesday.
Addressing over 600 health professionals from 105 nations and 20 international and intergovernmental organisations, Ramadoss urged them to focus on empowering communities as the most powerful tool to combat epidemics.
The conference, which is from Dec 4-6, is the fifth in a row of similar conferences organised across the world to discuss issues of geographical spread of avian influenza – and the health challenges that come with it – and threaten the global community at large.
Jacques Diouf, director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), said that avian influenza could still cause a global pandemic and requires continued vigilance and control efforts, particularly in animals.
Diouf warned in his speech that the spread of avian influenza typifies the potential emergence of major health crises with an increased risk of pathogens travelling over large distances in very short time periods, favoured by globalisation and climate change.
A recent UN report said that while the impact of avian influenza – which had been reported in 60 countries over the last three years – had been kept in check through improved detection and containment, the response was unequal and the risk of a global pandemic affecting humans remained.
Most of the human deaths from the disease have been reported from Asia, the latest from China on Sunday.
“The World Bank has projected that for a reasonable level of preparedness for avian and human influenza, developing countries would need to spend at least $ 2.2 billion over two to three years period,” Ramadoss said at the inaugural session of the meet.
He said that the current gap for mobilising resources for the country programmes is $960 million, or over 40 percent of the identified needs. From earlier conferences, $649 million is available to help fill this gap.
“But these resources are in the form of loans, while grants would be a more appropriate form for financing this global public good.
“While this gap must be minimised, I would urge that we need to look at low cost options also,” Ramadoss said.
With avian influenza prevention and control programmes being in place for almost four years, many countries have been able to contain or even eradicate the disease.
Almost all countries have implemented emergency programmes and have reinforced their health and veterinary services.
Despite the immense efforts undertaken by countries and the international community to prevent and control the H5N1 virus, countries are still facing major challenges.
“The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus continues to circulate in some regions of the world, causing the introduction or reintroduction of the disease in other countries.
“Extensive outbreak areas remain, particularly in countrieswhere the virus is endemic, with the attendant risk of the emergence of a pandemic virus,” Diouf said.
“We are still uncertain as to the precise role played by wild birds. There are real risks of viruses emerging against which current vaccines provide no protection.
“Another major problem is the cost of long-term controlprogrammes and how to finance them. Finally, there is still the difficulty of controlling the illegal movement of products and live animals,” Diouf added.
Speakers at the conference stressed that robust animal health systems directed by well-equipped veterinary services and supported by a clear political commitment are the key elements for successful avian influenza control campaigns.
“Most of the health crises that have occurred in the last ten years have been related to diseases that are transmittable to humans and that have originated in developing countries.
“Clearly, therefore, the investments that are required to improve health systems need to focus on prevention at source – in animals – and in the countries of the South,” Diouf said.