Tweet
Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/s...um=02HEA150808
FAO recommends cost-sharing to deliver bird flu vaccinations
(15-08-2008)
HA NOI ? The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) recommended yesterday that Viet Nam consider moving from a fully publicly-funded bird flu mass-vaccination campaign, to a public-private funded one to ease the burden on the State as donations are on the decline, according to FAO?s senior avian influenza technical consultant Dr Tony Forman.
"We have to recognise that this disease is going to continue for a long time. One thing that the Government and FAO are concerned about is that the strategies we have for controlling bird flu be sustainable," said the animal health expert on the sidelines of a two-day meeting to review the Strategy for Control and Prevention of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the Agriculture Sector in Ha Noi.
Cost-sharing was one of strategies being discussed in a bid to sustain control as donations drop, he said.
Viet Nam has spent around US$20 million a year on bird flu vaccinations, including about 500 million doses of vaccines since the disease first broke out in the country in 2003; this fund comes mostly from donors.
According to Forman, the level of funds from major donors is still good, the US Agency for International Development being the largest one, but support from other donors have already started dropping off.
He explained the problem was that a lot of international support came from various governments? emergency funding for Viet Nam. But the country had escaped being one of the bird flu centres in the world, said Agriculture and Rural Development Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong.
Forman said Viet Nam was without question, doing a much better job in controlling the disease than other countries in the world thanks to the Government?s strong commitment, but it was very expensive to undertake control in this way.
Le Thanh Binh, a farmer in Vinh Phuc Province, said if she had to pay for vaccinations, she would only vaccinate her family?s small chicken flock in case there was an outbreak in her area.
Some believe the new mechanism might discourage farmers from vaccinating their birds, because ironically, the Government?s success in controlling the disease had led to a drop in their awareness of the dangers.
The FAO agreed it was a risk and a challenge to encourage cost sharing. Therefore, they recommended implementing the mechanism on a trial basis to see what level of support from the Government would be appropriate, said Forman.
"That is why the Government will continue one mass vaccination each year [instead of the current two] in October and November, to ensure that the birds are covered over this high risk period of Tet (Lunar New Year), in case the funding fails."
According to the FAO representative in Viet Nam, Andrew Speedy, public-private cost sharing will not only enable the Government at the central, provincial and district levels to have some budgetary reserves for supporting other key disease prevention and control programmes, but is also likely to bring about a sense of ownership and stronger participation in the vaccination policy by all those involved in the poultry business. ? VNS
Inset:
Free Tamiflu
The Government of Japan will provide Viet Nam with Tamiflu, enough to help about 74,000 people.
The donation ceremony was held yesterday in Ha Noi between the Japanese Embassy and the Ministry of Health.
FAO recommends cost-sharing to deliver bird flu vaccinations
(15-08-2008)
HA NOI ? The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) recommended yesterday that Viet Nam consider moving from a fully publicly-funded bird flu mass-vaccination campaign, to a public-private funded one to ease the burden on the State as donations are on the decline, according to FAO?s senior avian influenza technical consultant Dr Tony Forman.
"We have to recognise that this disease is going to continue for a long time. One thing that the Government and FAO are concerned about is that the strategies we have for controlling bird flu be sustainable," said the animal health expert on the sidelines of a two-day meeting to review the Strategy for Control and Prevention of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the Agriculture Sector in Ha Noi.
Cost-sharing was one of strategies being discussed in a bid to sustain control as donations drop, he said.
Viet Nam has spent around US$20 million a year on bird flu vaccinations, including about 500 million doses of vaccines since the disease first broke out in the country in 2003; this fund comes mostly from donors.
According to Forman, the level of funds from major donors is still good, the US Agency for International Development being the largest one, but support from other donors have already started dropping off.
He explained the problem was that a lot of international support came from various governments? emergency funding for Viet Nam. But the country had escaped being one of the bird flu centres in the world, said Agriculture and Rural Development Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong.
Forman said Viet Nam was without question, doing a much better job in controlling the disease than other countries in the world thanks to the Government?s strong commitment, but it was very expensive to undertake control in this way.
Le Thanh Binh, a farmer in Vinh Phuc Province, said if she had to pay for vaccinations, she would only vaccinate her family?s small chicken flock in case there was an outbreak in her area.
Some believe the new mechanism might discourage farmers from vaccinating their birds, because ironically, the Government?s success in controlling the disease had led to a drop in their awareness of the dangers.
The FAO agreed it was a risk and a challenge to encourage cost sharing. Therefore, they recommended implementing the mechanism on a trial basis to see what level of support from the Government would be appropriate, said Forman.
"That is why the Government will continue one mass vaccination each year [instead of the current two] in October and November, to ensure that the birds are covered over this high risk period of Tet (Lunar New Year), in case the funding fails."
According to the FAO representative in Viet Nam, Andrew Speedy, public-private cost sharing will not only enable the Government at the central, provincial and district levels to have some budgetary reserves for supporting other key disease prevention and control programmes, but is also likely to bring about a sense of ownership and stronger participation in the vaccination policy by all those involved in the poultry business. ? VNS
Inset:
Free Tamiflu
The Government of Japan will provide Viet Nam with Tamiflu, enough to help about 74,000 people.
The donation ceremony was held yesterday in Ha Noi between the Japanese Embassy and the Ministry of Health.
Comment