WHO calls for local approach to Avian Flu in East Africa

July 11, 2008

WHO Official Calls for Regional Approach to Avian Flu in East Africa

(Part 3/5) By Mpuga, Washington, DC 04 July 2008

A World Health Organization (WHO) official has called for a regional

approach in addressing the risk of avian influenza in east Africa.

Rita Njau is the World Health Organization's acting director of

preventive services in Tanzania.

Njau told VOA English to Africa reporter Mpuga that east

Africa's major bodies of water contribute to the risk of an avian flu

outbreak. " The threat is quite real…. Migratory birds take this path

twice a year as they migrate either from the southern or northern

hemisphere. So we do have a potential threat " (of an outbreak), she said.

She said in 2006, when there was an avian flu pandemic in East Asia,

WHO took the lead in setting up a task force with relevant

institutions within Tanzania to address the threat. " [The WHO] also

worked with other United Nations (UN) agencies and a committee was set

up to discuss how to prepare and handle such potential emergencies. "

She added, " There were actually two parallel task forces ready to

tackle the situation as it would arise. "

Njau said WHO has contingency plans and has learned from what happened

in Sudan, where there was an avian flu case. She stressed the

importance of getting information to the people so that they know what

to do in case of an outbreak.

Njau said more needs to be done about getting east African countries

to cooperate in efforts to prevent avian flu. " I don't think we have

done as much as we should. There are no concrete plans for east Africa

as a region. But there are plans to look at the issue (avian flu) as

an east African problem. These plans involve looking at it

holistically as a region problem instead of looking at it country by

country. "

The World Health organization and other UN agencies have provided

technical and financial support to the countries in the region. Most

of this support is in technical expertise and testing and detection kits.

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