BANGKOK, Nov. 3 Kyodo
Thailand will set up a $2.5 million fund to help ACMECS, which brings together Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, fight bird flu, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Thursday.
Speaking after the second ACMECS leaders' summit in Bangkok, Thaksin said premiers from the five countries signed and issued a declaration on Partnership in Combating Avian Influenza and Other Diseases that assures ACMECS will combat and prevent the outbreak of bird flu by endorsing public health initiatives.
The group will also cooperate in many areas, including training on surveillance, region-wide monitoring of poultry, establishing a network to share information and strengthening preparedness.
''This fund is set up to show our preparedness. If ACMECS members need help with bird flu, we can send (money) to them immediately, without any need to waste time,'' Thaksin said.
Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said Wednesday that all five countries recognized the threat posed by avian influenza and agreed to work closely to combat and prevent its outbreak by exchanging information and research and by developing a vaccine against the dangerous H5N1 strain.
''The ACMECS members agreed to give full cooperation on bird flu and Thailand proposed giving vaccines to people who work and live near poultry farms, as well as people who are ill because it's very easy for sick people to be affected by bird flu,'' Kantathi said.
The ACMECS leaders' summit Thursday brought together the Thai prime minister, Myanmar Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Soe Win, Lao Prime Minister Boungnang Vorachit, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.
The five also discussed a host of non-health issues, including trade and investment, agriculture, industry, transport, tourism, human development and public health.
ACMECS, the Ayawaddy-Chao Phraya-Mekong Cooperation Strategy, is named after the three main rivers in the region.
It was set up at the instigation of Thaksin to strengthen economic cooperation among the five countries along the rivers.
The first meeting, without Vietnam, was in 2003 in Bagan, Myanmar. The next summit will be in Vietnam in 2007.
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