Libreville, 20 March 2006 -- The President of Gabon, El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba has called the attention of the international community to the challenge posed by the emergence of the virus that causes avian influenza. President Omar Bongo made this call at the opening of the regional meeting of the United Nations systems on the avian influenza situation in Africa.

“Tous, Africans, avian influenza is yet another challenge that has come to add onto the many other existing challenges like poverty, AIDS and malaria”, President Bongo said to the 250 participants gathered at the meeting.

“The impact of avian influenza is likely to compound the difficulties facing the population most of whom are already vulnerable. It can also weaken national health services and bring a new financial burden to our countries”, President Bongo added.

The Head of State said “ Gabon will spare no effort to nip avian influenza in the bud”. He promised to act as the spokesman at the African Union and considered the possibility of creating a special fund for avian influenza prevention and control in Gabon.

For his part, the FAO Regional Director for Africa, Mr Anebi Edache drew the participants attention to the need to implement strategies and contingency plans to prevent a human pandemic.

Mr Edache highlighted the disease’s socioeconomic impact, its effect on the lifestyles of the populations and its public health implications, all of which call for a multisectoral approach.

He added that FAO was working jointly with the countries to strengthen animal health services and improve their avian influenza prevention, surveillance and detection capacities.

Addressing the meeting, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo stressed the urgent need to mobilize human and financial resources in order to create a minimum platform for action, pending contributions from the international community.

He enumerated a number of measures to be taken to protect human health should avian influenza be declared. They include:

• Confining poultry to reduce the risk of transmission to humans;
• Strengthening veterinary controls by adhering to individual protection measures (use of masks, boots and gloves).
• Intensifying public information, disseminating educative messages and avoiding messages that create panic;
• Keeping contingency stocks of antiviral medicines such as Tamiflu for management of human cases;
• Keeping stocks of personal protection equipment (PPE).

Dr Sambo said “there would be a human influenza pandemic only if a mutated H5N1 strain emerges and is transmitted from man to man, which has not been the case, so far”. He went on to urge the countries to take drastic measures to contain infection in animals in order to avoid transmission of the virus to humans.

When he addressed the gathering, the UNDP Regional Director for Africa, Mr Gilbert Foussoun Hounbgo advocated the strengthening of partnership between Africa and bilateral and multilateral partners, on the one hand, and the strengthening of ties and coordination within the United Nations systems, on the other, with a view to mobilizing technical and financial resources.

Mr Hounbgo said, “We should not underestimate the socioeconomic impact and the risk of psychosis, especially at these times when we all are striving to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015”.

Mr Hounbgo went on to say that households who fall victim to mass culling should be equitably indemnified to encourage the general public to act in the common interest of all. He noted the priority importance of information and communication as indispensable tools for disseminating national policies on avian influenza.

The Libreville meeting is being jointly organized by the Government of Gabon, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The meeting aims to assist countries to strengthen their capacity to cope with epidemic in Africa. It will help participants to update their knowledge of the avian influenza situation, disseminate the report of the United Nations Joint Mission to Nigeria and neighbouring countries, share national preparedness and response plans, mobilize resources and make recommendations to improve the United Nations system’s support to countries.

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