20 September 2006
U.S. Global Pandemic Assistance Nears $400 Million
International pandemic partnership enters second year
Washington – The United States is boosting its contributions to the international effort to combat avian and pandemic influenza, bringing U.S. contributions over the past year to $392 million, according to a September 20 announcement by U.S. Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky.
The announcement was made in New York in conjunction with the U.N. General Assembly session one year after President Bush had announced formation of the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza (IPAPI) at the same forum. (See related article.)
“We need only to look back to the SARS outbreak of three years ago,” Dobriansky said, “to understand that the social, economic and political impacts of a virulent flu pandemic could be devastating.”
In a statement from Washington, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt also endorsed the early voluntary implementation of the international regulations, and cited other examples of cooperation between the United States and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the global effort against avian and pandemic influenza.
"We are funding the Specimen Transport Fund, managed by the Secretariat of the World Health Organization," Leavitt's statement said. "It is a key innovation in getting samples from affected countries in a timely and secure fashion."
Ninety-three nations have joined IPAPI, along with 20 international organizations.
Dr. David Nabarro, senior U.N. coordinator for avian and human influenza, UNICEF Director Ann Venneman and Dr. David Heymann, director of the communicable diseases cluster at the WHO, joined Dobriansky at the press conference.
INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS
“The World Health Assembly [WHA] has requested that WHO begin implementation of the revised International Health Regulations,” Heymann said, “this year for avian influenza and next year for the framework that will involve other diseases as well.”
The WHA unanimously adopted the revised regulations in May 2005, and they are scheduled to enter into force in June 2007. (See related article.)
The broadened purpose, according to WHO, is to "prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade."
Heymann said a group of experts will meet for the first time September 25, forming a task force on avian influenza as part of the international health regulation framework.
The group will review evidence bases on containing outbreaks, stockpiling, global vaccine pandemic planning, and virus information sharing through WHO and other databases, he said.
“WHO is very pleased to be a partner in this larger partnership dealing with preparedness for avian influenza,” he said.
NATIONAL PLANS
IPAPI was formed in response to concerns from international health experts that a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that appeared in Southeast Asia in late 2003 has the potential to trigger a human health pandemic.
The H5N1 virus now has been detected in wild birds or domestic poultry in more than 50 nations.
Human cases of the disease have appeared in 10 countries, causing 144 deaths. In most cases, individual exposure to the disease has been traced to direct contact with sick poultry.
Health authorities warn that if the H5N1 virus were to mutate to become contagious among humans, a global pandemic of human influenza could result, with severe effects on human health, social structures and economic activity.
With the support of IPAPI over the last year, Dobriansky said, more than 175 nations have national plans for combating avian and pandemic influenza.
Animal and human health authorities in only 40 nations had crafted such plans prior to the formation of IPAPI, according to the U.S. State Department’s Avian Influenza Action Group.
CONTROLLING DISEASE
In collaboration with international organizations and through its own health and aid agencies, the United States is providing support and technical assistance to dozens of nations to better enable them to contain and control the disease in animal and human populations. (See related article.)
The U.S. departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Interior and others have deployed scientists, veterinarians, public health experts and emergency response teams to affected and high-risk countries to assist in dealing with actual outbreaks or to help develop plans for potential outbreaks.
U.S. assistance also is being used to help upgrade diagnostic and laboratory capabilities in vulnerable countries, and train animal and human health specialists who will be responsible for responding to outbreaks, according to a U.S. State Department September 20 fact sheet. (See related article.)
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has shipped about 93,000 personal protective equipment kits to 66 countries for use by responders in the field in 2006, according to the fact sheet.
That effort continues as USAID works to build a stockpile of 1.5 million personal protective equipment kits, 100 lab kits and 15,000 decontamination kits for deployment as necessary in the event of future avian influenza outbreaks.
For ongoing coverage of the disease and efforts to combat it, see Bird Flu (Avian Influenza).
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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