World Bank active in bird flu prevention
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Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 14, 2006 11:06
The World Bank is playing an active role in trying to help countries take preventative bird flu measures. Ahead of next week's meeting in Beijing, World Bank member countries on Thursday endorsed $500 million in aid to help countries deal with bird flu, a senior bank official said. The bank's vice president for operations and country services, Jim Adams, said that Kyrgyzstan is the first country to benefit from the new funding and will receive about $5 million in February to prepare for bird flu, according to the Reuters news agency.
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"We have flexibility now to go out and negotiate with individual countries to provide money," Adams said in a Reuters interview, adding he was "cautiously optimistic" that donor countries will be able to fund a $1 billion financing gap for a global war chest for bird flu at the Beijing meeting. He said the $500 million from the World Bank would be part of filling the shortfall.
Adams on Thursday presented the board with reasons to support the fund, saying it was vital the bank be ready to issue funding to countries as quickly as possible.