Bush tours Vietnam flu lab
November 20, 2006 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
US President George W. Bush is in Vietnam’s Pasteur Institute to pledge U.S. support toward Southeast Asian’s preparations for a flu pandemic.
President Bush’s first trip to the communist country is part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum held in Hanoi. That the 21-member Coop met in Vietnam is a positive signal to the country’s successful fight against the bird flu that ravaged since 2003. The virus has killed more 42 people in Vietnam since 2003, but have virtually been undetected this year. Vietnam’s success is largely credited to a nationwide poultry vaccination campaign and strong political will to root out the virus.
Even U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised a concerted effort by Vietnam and the APEC on implementing measures to prepare for and mitigate an influenza pandemic.
“This is a serious threat, and we all must remember how important it is for members to report outbreaks and share biological samples, in a timely and transparent manner,” she said.
The Pasteur Institute and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi are the country’s top two research institutes for communicable diseases.
[Source: Herald Tribune]
Tags: bird flu, flu pandemic, Vietnam, George W. Bush, Condeleeza Rice, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
