WHO speaks highly of Vietnam's efforts to contain bird flu

On the sidelines of the international conference o­n bird flu, held in Tokyo o­n January 12 and 13, he expressed his hope that with the government's consistent efforts, Vietnam will soon be successful in controlling the disease.

At the conference, a statement was released, calling o­n countries to further enhance co-operation in preventing bird flu. However, no commitment of financial aid was reported.

Switzerland-based medicine producer Roche pledged to provide more antiviral medicine to Asia. The pharmaceutical firm has been in discussions with the WHO o­n setting up a stockpile of antiviral medicine in Asia.

About 500 world leaders and officials are expected to gather in Beijing, China, next week to discuss aid distribution. Around 1.2-1.5 billion USD is expected to be pledged to help countries carry out action plans against the disease.