The US Government will provide US$7.3 million through the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to Vietnam to implement two projects on preventing and combating bird flu.

The documents relating to the projects were signed by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan and FAO Representative Andrew Speedy, in Hanoi on April 8.

The two projects cover the provision of technical assistance for improvement of preparedness in response to the bird flu (third phase) and date collection in service of shifting of H5N1 vaccination strategy in Vietnam.

US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Michalak said the US Government had since 2005 doled out around US$50 million for the fight against bird flu in Vietnam.

He pledged that through the newly-signed projects and other activities, the US would continue to work closely with other donors to assist Vietnam to shift from a large-scale vaccination for poultry against avian influenza to a more sustainable bird flu control strategy.

Statistics show that bird flu has attacked Vietnam five times since 2003, affecting 60 out of the country’s 63 cities and provinces and claiming 54 lives out of the 109 cases of human infection. Since the beginning of this year, bird flu has left three people dead.

Deputy Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan said Vietnam had mobilised the entire political system in monitoring the implementation of the bird flu national response programme.

He also reported that the Vietnamese government had spent almost US$130 million from the State budget for the anti-bird flu prevention.

“Vietnam appreciates experts’ recommendations on the shift in bird flu preventive strategy, with the focus on mid- and long-term measures, especially those relating to development of bio-breeding and improvement of the veterinary sector to enable it to quickly respond to other epidemics in the future and ensure that the animal husbandry grows sustainably,” said the government official. (VNA)