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Nepal to get bird flu control grant
The World Bank (WB) will provide US$18.2 million to
Nepal to help fund a four-year avian influenza control
project.
Although Nepal has not reported any cases of
bird
flu, authorities say that it is better to take precautions sooner rather
than later.
Manas Banerjee, acting director of the Epidemiology and Disease Control
Division (EDCD), said the programme will be launched in January but the
agreement will be signed in February.
The decision to offer the grant was taken at a four-day meeting in New
Delhi this month, where
World Bank
representatives, met with Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Madhav
Ghimire, EDCD director and the director of the Livestock Department.
"The fund will be utilised in implementing the 'National Avian Influenza
and Pandemic Preparedness and Response (NAIPPR)' programme prepared by the
government," Banerjee said.
The NAIPPR programme focuses on planning and coordination, surveillance of
human influenza, prevention and containment of avian influenza, health systems
preparedness and response, communication and the Ministry of Health's laboratory
capacity development.
The Health Ministry, Ministry of Local Development, and the Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives will jointly support the program.
The WB has committed to providing US$500 million for avian flu control
across the globe.
Editor WorldPoultry
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