Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved additional funding of US$25 million for a national project to tackle avian influenza epidemics among poultry and human.

 

According to the Vietnam Television’s news website, the funds will be raised through World Bank loans and the state budget.

 

The ongoing project, launched in 2007 in 11 provinces across the country, received an initial investment of $38 million, including loans from the World Bank. It aims to improve the efficiency of healthcare and animal health services to minimize avian flu risks for humans as well as poultry.

 

The additional investment will help control the flu by containing it at affected poultry herds, detecting inflicted human and poultry cases, as well as preparing responses to epidemics, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.