World Bank: $15 million for Indonesia

From the World Bank News:

The world’s mega-financial adviser for economic development (a.k.a. World Bank) has announced a $15 million grant for Indonesia as part of global effort to fight the vird flu more effectively. The cash-strapped nation has the world’s highest human toll at 49 deaths and 64 human infections from the H5N1 virus that’s endemic in poultry and spreading rapidly.

Aside from Indonesia, Laos and Thailand are also having difficulties in stopping the spread of H5N1. The World Bank now wants greater resources to flow into countries with the greatest needs. Jim Adams, head of the Bank’s avian flu taskforce and vice-president for East Asia and the Pacific, was quoted:

“At present, the number of deaths in the population stands at 144 out of 244 infections which have been identified in 10 countries. Virtually all the human cases have been traced to close contact with poultry, but even then I think that we have been very fortunate in that infections remain relatively rare, considering that millions of people may have been exposed to the H5N1 virus.”

Adams also said about 55 countries have laboratory confirmed cases in wild birds or poultry, 220 million birds have died and many rural livelihoods have been been affected economically.

Furthermore, the World Bank also estimates a global cost from a severe flu pandemic to range between $1 to 2 trillion, or more than three percent of the global economy’s gross national product.

Tags: Asia, avian flu, bird flu monitoring, global economy, Indonesia, pandemic flu, World Bank