ADB Buying Equipment to Protect Workers Fighting Bird Flu in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (17 February 2004) - ADB is providing a grant of more than $90,000 to the Government of Cambodia to buy equipment, materials, and supplies to protect workers fighting the country's avian flu outbreak.

The grant, amounting to US$91,940, to the Department of Animal Health and Production (DAHP) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), will also support training and public awareness campaigns.

The assistance draws on funds allocated by ADB to support countries in their response to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and other emerging diseases.

It will be used to buy masks, rubber gloves, shoe covers, biohazard disposable bags, culling and disinfectant supplies, cleaning materials, and laboratory kits. Training will be given in animal outbreak control and investigation measures for DAHP and provincial staff. Information material will also be produced for vets, the farmers and the public.

The purchase will be coordinated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and World Health Organization, the primary donor agencies providing technical advice to Government to combat the avian flu outbreak.

"We hope that this modest contribution will go a long way in helping MAFF and DAHP to contain and control the disease outbreak," Urooj Malik, ADB Country Director in Cambodia, said in a letter to H.E. Chan Sarun, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

"We also hope that MAFF and DAHP will institute a process to speedily disseminate information of any disease outbreak so that control and prevention measures can be immediately implemented. We are confident that under MAFF's guidance, the strong collaboration and cooperation among government agencies and donor community will result in a successful campaign to combat the avian flu."

Last year in response to the SARS outbreak, ADB approved grants amounting to $5.0 million to provide emergency assistance to address the outbreak and other emerging infectious diseases.

The current avian flu outbreak is expected to impact initially at least on rural economies, putting farmers raising poultry under severe economic pressure. In addition, avoidance of poultry products has, in some areas, driven up the price of other meat products and this could be affecting the protein intake of poor households.