The head of China's delegation to the UN's Geneva Office told a
conference on avian influenza there yesterday that the government
is willing to strengthen cooperation with international
organizations and other countries to fight a pandemic of the
disease.
Hu Xiaodi said China would exchange information, provide
material and technical aid for prevention and control, and
cooperate in research, development and large-scale production of
medicines and vaccines.
He added that China would promote domestic-made vaccines,
improve administration of and technical support for veterinarians,
and improve mechanisms to deal with animal epidemics.
The three-day conference is sponsored by the WHO, Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organization for Animal
Health and World Bank in a bid to create a global strategy to fight
the deadly bird flu virus, and more than 500 experts are attending
it.
Hu said China would also endeavor to coordinate with
international organizations for the efficient use of resources,
strengthen laboratory exchanges and properly deal with intellectual
property rights protection issues.
Hu suggested that the UN, particularly the WHO and FAO, should
coordinate different attempts to fight avian influenza in different
countries, mobilize and integrate global resources with a clear aim
and high efficiency, and strengthen regional cooperation, citing
work done in the Asia Pacific region as a good example.
Hu also suggested that international society, particularly
developed countries, should provide more assistance for
epidemic-stricken areas, particularly developing countries,
including necessary funds and technologies for emergency use.
They should help these regions establish and improve human
influenza and bird flu early-warning systems, and make joint
efforts in laboratory testing and in developing medicines and
vaccines, said Hu.
He said they should also properly handle intellectual property
rights protection issues, and reduce the costs for
epidemic-stricken developing countries to gain and produce
medicines and vaccines.
As for the situation in China, Hu said that about 50 highly
pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks were confirmed on the Chinese
mainland in 2004. So far this year, seven among poultry and one
among migrant birds have been confirmed in seven Chinese provinces
and regions.
Thanks to timely preventive measures taken by central and local
governments all the outbreaks have been effectively controlled and
wiped out, said Hu.
(China.org.cn by Li Jingrong, November 8, 2005)