World Bank funds bird flu fight in Indonesia
The World Bank is preparing a $15 million grant for Indonesia as part of a broad donor effort fight avian flu more effectively in the country.
Indonesia has the highest death toll from avian influenza, and officials have recently commented that the country’s inadequate vaccination programme and poor biosecurity measures mean that the virus is likely to continue spreading there.
The funding from the World Bank came as the United Nations Avian Flu Coordinator, David Nabarro, called for sustained political commitment by world leaders to fighting bird flu, saying “there will be another influenza pandemic one day, but we don’t know when.â€
Speaking at a media conference on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Jim Adams, the head of the Bank’s avian flu taskforce said a severe pandemic could the global economy over $1 trillion and perhaps as high as $2 trillion in the worst case scenario.
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