International Conference on Avian flu
International Congress Centre in Sharm El-Sheikh
24-26th Oct, 2008.
EU SUPPORTS GOVERNMENT OF EGYPT'S EFFORTS TO COMBAT AVIAN FLU
The Government of Egypt is organizing the 2008 International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza.
This conference is organized as a collaboration between the Government of Egypt, the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza and the European Union with the support of the European Commission, the US Government and different organizations within the UN system.
The conference will be a follow up to previous global meetings and conferences on avian influenza that were held since 2005 and to the Declaration of Beijing signed in January 2006 by the 99 countries and all the international organizations that participated to the Beijing pledging conference. It takes place at a significant juncture in our collective endeavour to contain the outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in animals, and to strengthen global preparedness to limit and mitigate the consequences of a potential human influenza pandemic.
The spread of avian influenza and the possibility of a human pandemic continue to pose a serious threat worldwide. The threat is as great today as it was five years ago when the frequency of HPAI outbreaks around the world started to increase.
Egypt and Nigeria are the two most affected countries by the avian influenza virus in Africa. The first outbreak of the H5N1 avian influenza virus among poultry in Egypt was reported on 16th February 2006. The virus has since spread to 21 governorates of which El-Sharqia and El-Qalubia are the most affected. The outbreak devastated the local poultry industry estimated at USD 2-3 billion, employing 2-3 million individuals and providing over around 50 percent of the animal protein consumed by Egyptians.
The total number of human cases in Egypt has reached 36, of which 15 have proven fatal.
The Government of Egypt has received active support from the European Union to its efforts to overcome the human and animal negative effects of avian influenza outbreaks in the country since 2006. As regards the veterinary aspects of the avian influenza outbreaks, just after the Egyptian National Integrated Plan for Avian and Human Influenza was finalised, the country received a USD 7 million grant from the Avian and Human Influenza Facility (AHIF), a fund 80% financed by the EU and managed by the World Bank, for strengthening the control and surveillance capacity and upgrading the Cairo veterinary laboratory services.
Moreover, Egyptian laboratory technicians have already benefited from trainings organised in the EU and in Egypt by the European Commission Directorates Generals for Trade and Health and Consumers to help the country better control the disease. The European Union has provided € 2.5 million to the Ministry of Agriculture from the remaining funds of the Food Aid Counterpart Fund to carry out farms and home birds vaccination campaigns, purchase equipment and provide training to vaccination teams.
In the wider context, the European Union has been supporting the Health Sector Reform undertaken by Egypt in line with the EU/Egypt Joint Action Plan and in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The Health Sector Reform Programme (HSRP), which came to an end in 2007, was successfully implemented in five selected Pilot Governorates with an EU contribution of € 110 million. Under this project, a total of 125 Family Health Units have been refurbished, renovated, rehabilitated and constructed. Notably, 71 clinics have been accredited and are fully operative in the particularly poor Governorate of Sohag in Upper Egypt. Others are located in another four pilot Governorates: Alexandria, Suez, Qena and Menoufeya. All the units were provided with furniture and supplied with modern equipment (e.g. laboratory equipment, dentistry equipment, x-ray machines, etc.). The European Union has also successfully contributed to the Family Health Fund with € 26 million, and the Ministry of Health and Population is in the process of rolling-out the same system to other Governorates throughout Egypt.
To ensure the continuity of the European Union support to the Health Sector in Egypt, The Health Sector Policy Support Programme (HSPSP) was launched in 2006 with an EU contribution of € 88 million to promote the poverty reduction through a better health for all the Egyptian population.
Contact:
Nabila Massrali
Press and Information Officer
Delegation of the European Commission in Egypt
Tel: +202 3749 46 80
nabila.massrali@ec.europa.eu
