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ADB Provides US$4 Million in Emergency Support to Address SARS

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (26 May 2003) - In response to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved two grants, each for US$2 million. One is to combat the disease in the People's Republic of China's (PRC's) Western Region. The other is to provide emergency support for the region, excluding PRC.

Both are part of a comprehensive action plan approved by ADB earlier this month.

The technical assistance (TA) grant to the PRC, where about 65% of SARS cases worldwide have been reported, will help to prevent cross-border transmission of the disease in the relatively poor western region, and develop rapid epidemic detection and response strategies.

In the PRC, the Government has been taking steps to stop the epidemic spiraling. But the country's Western Region, home to a disproportionate share of PRC's poor, needs to build capacity to respond to SARS, particularly in rural areas and among the poor.

The US$2 million ADB grant will help provincial and local governments and health units plan and carry out programs to combat the disease.

"In dialogue with the World Health Organization and other domestic and external agencies to avoid duplication and maximize complementarity, the assistance in the PRC will target provinces where the health infrastructure and epidemic surveillance and response capacities are weak, elevating concerns about in-province, cross-province, and cross-border spread of SARS," says Christopher Spohr, an ADB Project Economist.

"It will help address the immediate threat posed by SARS, and will also feed into longer-term capacities and dialogue with the Government and other external agencies to contribute towards strengthening the PRC's public health system."

The emergency assistance will promote prevention, surveillance, management, and mitigation activities, with emphasis on quick action to protect front-line workers, the poor and other groups at risk.

It will also help raise public awareness by conducting information, education and communication (IEC) campaigns, and provide critical equipment and supplies for epidemic surveillance systems, and protection and quarantine.

ADB's other US$2 million grant, to provide regional support excluding the PRC, will be carried out over the next six months and will focus on preventing and containing SARS by financing the vital first steps in a medium- to long-term effort to boost the region's health systems. Many governments and health systems of the region, faced with tight budgets and slow mobilization of resources, are ill-prepared to deal with the SARS outbreak.

"Given the lack of understanding about how the disease spreads and the potential for it to infect populations, particularly the poor and those in rural areas, early action to limit and control SARS is critical," says Clay Wescott, ADB's Principal Regional Cooperation Specialist.

"ADB will be working closely with governments, the World Health Organization and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to identify how much and where resources are needed."

Coordinating joint regional initiatives with agencies such as the Association of South East Asian Nations and the South Pacific Commission, the regional technical assistance (RETA) will carry out public health assessment, surveillance, training and institutional capacity building, as well as the emergency provision of public health equipment, material and supplies.

It will also develop standardized procedures for screening and restricting cross-border travelers and carry out SARS information, education and communication campaigns targeted at ministries of health, local health authorities, and NGOs.

In addition, it will compile SARS data across the region to promote a regional response through the sharing of good practices.

The RETA will also prepare small-scale project preparatory assistance for short- and medium-term responses to SARS and other emerging contagions. In addition, it will develop investment projects to meet long-term needs for communicable disease control.

The two grants are part of ADB's action plan prepared by its SARS crisis response team.

More at adb.org/media

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