The agricultural minister said Vietnam drafted a programme of action on bird flu control in poultry and humans just after the Beijing international conference concluded. The programme focuses on specific tasks, including the close co-ordination between relevant parties to effectively use foreign aid as well as domestic resources.

The programme was discussed at a consultative conference held on April 12 which drew opinions and recommendations from donors and international organisations. Between April 17-28, 12 donor countries sent 34 experts to Vietnam to work and complete the programme with local experts. The European Commission mission and the World Bank in Vietnam also highly valued the feasibility of the programme.

Mr Phat thanked the international community for its financial assistance to the fight and hoped to receive further assistance from the community. According to Mr Phat, to implement the programme, Vietnam needs at least US$400 million, half of which will be sourced from the Vietnamese Government. 

The minister said that the government has decided to allocate more than VND1,000 billion and VND100 billion to increase the capacity building for the medical and animal health sectors. Localities have also allocated nearly VND16 billion from their budgets for the fight since the beginning of the year. Vietnam already spent nearly VND100 billion on the first phase of the national vaccination programme and is carrying out the second phase.

To date Vietnam has received financial commitments worth US$20 million from foreign donors. Other donors have also promised to grant additional aid worth US$46 million to the country. 

Mr Phat noted that there were no new bird flu outbreaks in the past four months and no H5N1 virus infections in nearly six months. He said despite these initial results, further efforts should be made to control the epidemic in a more sustainable manner under medium- and long-term plans.

Vietnam’s programme of action on bird flu control in poultry and humans will be presented at an APEC conference on bird flu, which opened in Da Nang on May 4. The three-day conference will assess the impact of the bird flu epidemic on socio-economic development, draw up an APEC plan of action on bird flu fight and discuss regional and international co-operation in the fight among APEC member economies.