LACK OF COORDINATION HITTING BIRD FLU FIGHT: WHO
Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:15am ET
By Nita Bhalla (Reuters)
NEW DELHI - Lack of cooperation between health and farm officials in developing countries is hampering the fight against bird flu, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Ministers and senior officials from 11 Asian countries, including China, Indonesia and Thailand are meeting in New Delhi to agree on a blueprint to boost efforts between agencies and between nations to curb the spread of the H5N1 virus which has killed at least 133 people since 2003.
WHO officials say one major problem lay in the differing focus of health and farm or animal husbandry departments.
"Basically, the target populations of the different departments have been different: one focusing on poultry and the other people," said Subhash Salunke, WHO's regional advisor for communicable disease surveillance and response.
"In these days, where zoonotic diseases have the potential to become pandemics, the health and the agriculture departments have to coordinate," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference, hosted by the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Indian government.
Zoonotic diseases are animal diseases which can be transmitted to humans.
A prime example of such a lack of coordination was Indonesia, one of the delegates said.
The fight against bird flu in Indonesia was largely led by the health ministry whose officials had little idea about animal health, said the delegate, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
ndonesia, along with China, is among the worst-affected countries.
India and Thailand were cited as countries where there was good coordination between health and agricultural departments.
"In the countries where these two sectors have collaborated well, the outbreaks in animals and in humans have been contained," Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO regional director for Southeast Asia, told delegates.
Another problem, the delegates said, was the shortage of veterinarians and the fact that they have a low status compared to physicians in the developing countries.
The meeting of Asian nations comes two days after WHO confirmed the death of a 17-year-old man in Thailand due to bird flu, after an eight month lull, sparking concern about the need for better community surveillance.
At present, H5N1 remains essentially a disease of birds and is hard for people to catch. But scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans and trigger a pandemic in which millions could die.
Source
Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:15am ET
By Nita Bhalla (Reuters)
NEW DELHI - Lack of cooperation between health and farm officials in developing countries is hampering the fight against bird flu, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Ministers and senior officials from 11 Asian countries, including China, Indonesia and Thailand are meeting in New Delhi to agree on a blueprint to boost efforts between agencies and between nations to curb the spread of the H5N1 virus which has killed at least 133 people since 2003.
WHO officials say one major problem lay in the differing focus of health and farm or animal husbandry departments.
"Basically, the target populations of the different departments have been different: one focusing on poultry and the other people," said Subhash Salunke, WHO's regional advisor for communicable disease surveillance and response.
"In these days, where zoonotic diseases have the potential to become pandemics, the health and the agriculture departments have to coordinate," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference, hosted by the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Indian government.
Zoonotic diseases are animal diseases which can be transmitted to humans.
A prime example of such a lack of coordination was Indonesia, one of the delegates said.
The fight against bird flu in Indonesia was largely led by the health ministry whose officials had little idea about animal health, said the delegate, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
ndonesia, along with China, is among the worst-affected countries.
India and Thailand were cited as countries where there was good coordination between health and agricultural departments.
"In the countries where these two sectors have collaborated well, the outbreaks in animals and in humans have been contained," Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO regional director for Southeast Asia, told delegates.
Another problem, the delegates said, was the shortage of veterinarians and the fact that they have a low status compared to physicians in the developing countries.
The meeting of Asian nations comes two days after WHO confirmed the death of a 17-year-old man in Thailand due to bird flu, after an eight month lull, sparking concern about the need for better community surveillance.
At present, H5N1 remains essentially a disease of birds and is hard for people to catch. But scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans and trigger a pandemic in which millions could die.
Source