Asia should gear up to fight bird flu: WHO

Asia should gear up to fight bird flu: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that Asia needs to be well-prepared in case avian flu takes the form of a human pandemic, evolving into a virus, which can transmit from human to human and one, which could kill millions of people across the globe.

Representatives of Asian countries and international health organizations met in Tokyo for a two-day conference beginning Thursday in an attempt to arrive at a game-plan to fight the killer flu strain.

“To fight against this avian influenza, you have to have a multi-faceted strategy,” said Shigeru Omi, WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific. According to Mr. Omi what is needed is more careful surveillance and wider public awareness.

Bird flu has created havoc in East Asia killing 78 people since the latter part of 2003. The bird to human flu strain is slowly spreading towards Europe and has already killed two people and infected several others in Turkey within the last week. The greatest threat is from the H5N1 strain of the flu virus mutating into a human to human transmittable form, an occurrence which would spell doom for millions across the world if the history of previous bird flu outbreaks is anything to go by.

“While what is happening in Turkey and elsewhere is obviously worrying, we should not lose track of the fact that Asia is still the epicenter of the threat to global health posed by this virus called H5N1,” said Mr. Omi. “It is here that contact between infected poultry and humans is greatest and because of this, it is here that a pandemic could possibly start.”

Mr. Omi believes that only timely detection and warning can prevent the outbreak of a human pandemic. In addition, Asia needs to be prepared with an effective response plan. Asian leaders believe that financial support from the developed world would be vital in dealing with the situation.

“I think in principle we are ready, but we need more support for equipment, drugs and better training,” said Nguyen Tran Hien, director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology of Vietnam.