Official Bank Sites Multimedia June 5, 2006 — High population density, illiteracy, and weak health infrastructure are some of the major challenges in curbing the spread of the Avian Flu virus in South Asia. "The risk is much higher in countries which don’t have the systems in place to carry out effective surveillance," says Julian Schweitzer, Director for Human Development in the South Asia region. "That is certainly the case in many South Asian countries." Speaking ahead of a high-level avian flu conference in Vienna from 6 to 7 June, Schweitzer says the region remains at high risk also because of the large role poultry plays in the lives of many people. "When you have human and chickens living in close proximity, the threat of human HA5N1 infection is that much larger," Schweitzer says. The outbreaks of avian flu which began in south-east Asia in mid 2003 have now spread to parts of Europe. Nine Asian countries have reported outbreaks with the virus now endemic in the bird population in several of the initially affected coountries. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) there have been 224 cases of the virus in humans, with 127 deaths. There have been no reports of human cases of avian flu in South Asia. However, avian flu in poultry has been reported from Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.  Since February, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have culled hundreds of thousands of chickens and shut poultry farms.
"When the virus is detected, it is very important that these birds are culled," Schweitzer says. India in particular has been affected by these outbreaks, and has responded with major culling in and around the districts of Nandurbar and Jalgaon in the state of Maharashtra. Schweitzer is pleased with the response so far in South Asia and cites India as a good example. "In India, authorities moved very quickly to cull a very large number of birds, and this seems to have prevented a further spreading." Culling, he says, raises the issue of compensation to affected farmers - a key component of the Bank’s avian flu strategy. "It is absolutely critical to compensate farmers to avoid the risk of having farmers not report cases of the virus," says Schweitzer. The World Bank’s Response As the threat of avian flu continues to increase worldwide, the World Bank is actively supporting countries in South Asia to improve both animal and human surveillance, and ramp up capacity to deal with any human epidemic. The Bank’s operations are designed to strengthen HPAI clinical and laboratory diagnosis so that any outbreak can rapidly be detected and contained. In addition, the projects aim to build capacity of poultry farmers to ensure appropriate preventive measures in managing birds. Finally, the projects will improve the response capacity of health systems. Country level assessments on strategy, responses, and preparedness to the threat of a potential epidemic have been completed for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. "We are preparing projects that will come into operation in the next few months," says Schweitzer."This includes a series of stand-alone projects, and in certain cases, amendments to existing operations which will allow us to simply add a component for avian flu." Enormous Economic Consequences A serious risk to the regional economy stems from the possibility that avian flu might mutate into a form of flu that is easily transmitted between humans and for which the population has limited immunity. According to the Global Development Finance Report, released last week, a severe avian flu pandemic in South Asia could reduce output by almost 5 percent of GDP, constituting a major recession. "The economic consequences of a human-to-human transmission would be gigantic," Schweitzer says. "There would be huge economic disruption – trade, goods, food, and transport of all types." He believes the potential economic burden prompted countries to quickly come to the international community for assistance. "Prevention is a lot better than a cure," Schweitzer says. "The cost of putting these projects together is miniscule compared to the potential economic cost of a human-to-human pandemic." Vienna Conference The week’s meeting in Vienna will bring together donors, health and agriculture ministers and other officials in affected countries, as well as international veterinary and public health experts, to follow up on the pledges made at the January donors conference in Beijing. The purpose of the conference is to provide an update on preparation and implementation of national prevention, containment, and preparedness strategies, and discuss coordination of national and global initiatives. "This meeting will be a good avenue for country delegations to meet each other, both formally and on the sidelines of the conference, to discuss issues of common interest," says Robert Epworth, World Bank Senior Agriculturist, representing the South Asia region at the conference. "Laboratory testing, communication strategies, and compensation policies are key areas where countries can collaborate and exchange ideas." The conference will also address the need to increase availability of drugs and vaccines, and what research needs to be undertaken on drug and vaccine development. Related Links |
RSS