“Communication plays a very important role in increasing people’s awareness about bird flu prevention, said Hoang Van Nam, deputy head of the Veterinary Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at the workshop, which was co-organised by MARD and the UNICEF.

He said communication is one of the effective means to prevent bird flu effectively.

“Timely communication will help people understand the dangers of the epidemic, take effective preventive measures and avoid fears of using poultry and poultry products,” said Mr Nam.

Since the first bird flu outbreak was discovered early last year, the Party and State have paid special attention to communication activities, helping raise public awareness about the epidemic. With assistance from foreign organisations, the epidemic has been contained across the country. However, communication activities have not been carried out effectively in several localities due to local people’s apathy. Many people still threw out dead poultry in a disorderly manner and ate infected poultry and even blood puddings, leading to human infections.

Jef Gilbert, senior technical advisor to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), said that there is no room for complacency although no human infections have been reported during the past months. He quoted FAO as saying bird flu remains complicated, particularly in Asian countries such as Indonesia. He asked Vietnam to increase people’s awareness about the need to take preventive measures.    

Dida Connor, a communication officer of the World Health Organisation shared the view that people should keep abreast of the dangers and serious impacts of bird flu on the livestock breeding sector and the community healthcare system so that they will actively engage in preventive measures.

According to the Veterinary Department, no new bird flu outbreaks have been detected across the country during the past nine months. Thirty provinces and cities have completed the second phase of the national vaccination campaign against bird flu with 42.2 million poultry injected so far. They are Bac Lieu, Binh Dinh, Hau Giang, Dong Thap, Nam Dinh, An Giang, Kien Giang, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Thua Thien-Hue, Hung Yen, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Ha Tay, Ca Mau, Tien Giang, Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Lang Son, Dak Lak, Long An, Tay Ninh, Ninh Binh, Yen Bai, Vinh Long, Ninh Thuan and Binh Duong.