Vietnam asks for international help to tackle bird flu
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-03 11:36

Vietnam has officially requested the help of the international community to tackle a bird flu epidemic and prepare a long-term plan to address the problem, the World Health Organisation said.

Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat sent a letter late yesterday to the WHO and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation asking for help.

A vendor sits behind a tray of chicken on sale at a market in downtown Hanoi. Vietnam has officially requested the help of the international community to tackle a bird flu epidemic and prepare a long-term plan to address the problem, the World Health Organisation said.[AFP]

"The minister is asking us to help them develop a strategy to tackle the on-going bird flu epidemic," Hans Troedsson, WHO's representative in Vietnam told AFP.

The UN agencies would also coordinate aid from the international community. Experts would be sent to Vietnam for a comprehensive assessment of the situation, he said.

Troedsson said the ministry had also confirmed initial findings that a Cambodian woman who died last month in southern Vietnam had tested positive for bird flu.

The virus has claimed 13 lives in Vietnam since December 30 and 33 since the end of 2003.

Twelve people have also died in Thailand from the virus that has swept Asia since December 2003.

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