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$137m needed to contain bird flu: UN

November 01, 2005

THE United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) needed $US102 million ($136.7 million) to help poor South-East Asian countries contain bird flu in the next three years.

FAO chief technical adviser Sub hash Morzaria said a further $US75 million in emergency funding would be required to contain the virus if bird flu spread from Eastern Europe to Africa.

Morzaria said bird flu was a global problem and rich Western countries needed to help their impoverished neighbours to stop the spread of the virus.

"The general level of preparedness is variable," he said at a meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum health officials in Brisbane.

"This is related to economic status. The poorer countries will have greater difficulty preparing."

Experts from APEC, Pacific island nations and the World Health Organisation (WHO) were discussing how governments could react if the virus mutates into a form that is easily transmissible between humans.