Thursday, March 30 2006 14:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: Concerned over the rapid spread of bird flu, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has made a plea for funding beyond the 1.9 billion dollars already pledged to help poor countries, especially in Africa, to fight the disease.

"Since the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza in Beijing in January, vast and urgent needs have emerged which makes it yet more imperative to convert the pledges into cash quickly," Annan said in a statement yesterday (Mar 30, 2006).

"Bearing in mind the growing challenges faced by poor countries in all regions, donors will have to be prepared to mobilize additional resources for urgent as well as long-term needs. And we must work together to create flexible mechanisms that bring funds and expertise more rapidly to where they are needed, particularly for culling and compensation," he said.

Annan noted that with the rapid spread of the H5N1 virus from Asia into Europe, the Middle East and Africa, both the disease, and the measures needed to control it, will increase the vulnerability of millions of families, most of them in poor countries.

"We know that H5N1 avian influenza can be controlled if outbreaks are identified quickly, infected animals are culled, and movement and marketing of poultry are stopped in outbreak areas," he said.

"But such measures can succeed only if communities and animal health authorities work together, if we keep the public informed about risks and the means to reduce them," he said.