Cambodia receives US$11 million for fight against bird flu

The Mekong Times

Friday, May 09, 2008

 

A group of international donors yesterday promised Cambodia US$11 million in aid to minimize threats from avian influenza and prepare the Kingdom’s health systems to deal with a possible outbreak, according to a statement from the World Bank (WB).

 

The WB’s International Development Association (IDA) donated US$6 million, the government of Japan US$ 3 million and the European Commission and eight other donors contributed $2 million, the statement added.

 

The grants will support the government’s Avian and Human Influenza Control and Preparedness Emergency Project (AHICPEP), a three-year project hoped to complement Cambodia’s Comprehensive Avian and Human Influenza National Plan.

 

AHICPEP aims to help the government contain the spread of the H5N1 virus; reduce losses among commercial and backyard poultry growers; limit damage to the poultry industry; diminish the viral load in the environment; and prevent or limit human illness as well as mortality, added the WB statement.

 

“The improvements that the Cambodian government will be able to make in its veterinary and public health services should serve to protect the population not only against avian influenza, but also against other potential health threats,” said Daniel Costa Llobet, first secretary of the delegation of the European Commission to Cambodia,

 

“The project will play an important role in minimizing the threat that H5N1 poses to human beings as well as the poultry sector in Cambodia,” said Japanese Ambassador Katsuhiro Shinohara.

 

Source: The Mekong Times