The head of China's delegation to the UN's Geneva Office told a conference on avian influenza there yesterday that the government is willing to strengthen cooperation with international organizations and other countries to fight a pandemic of the disease.

Hu Xiaodi said China would exchange information, provide material and technical aid for prevention and control, and cooperate in research, development and large-scale production of medicines and vaccines.

He added that China would promote domestic-made vaccines, improve administration of and technical support for veterinarians, and improve mechanisms to deal with animal epidemics.

The three-day conference is sponsored by the WHO, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organization for Animal Health and World Bank in a bid to create a global strategy to fight the deadly bird flu virus, and more than 500 experts are attending it.

Hu said China would also endeavor to coordinate with international organizations for the efficient use of resources, strengthen laboratory exchanges and properly deal with intellectual property rights protection issues.

Hu suggested that the UN, particularly the WHO and FAO, should coordinate different attempts to fight avian influenza in different countries, mobilize and integrate global resources with a clear aim and high efficiency, and strengthen regional cooperation, citing work done in the Asia Pacific region as a good example.

Hu also suggested that international society, particularly developed countries, should provide more assistance for epidemic-stricken areas, particularly developing countries, including necessary funds and technologies for emergency use.

They should help these regions establish and improve human influenza and bird flu early-warning systems, and make joint efforts in laboratory testing and in developing medicines and vaccines, said Hu.

He said they should also properly handle intellectual property rights protection issues, and reduce the costs for epidemic-stricken developing countries to gain and produce medicines and vaccines.

As for the situation in China, Hu said that about 50 highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks were confirmed on the Chinese mainland in 2004. So far this year, seven among poultry and one among migrant birds have been confirmed in seven Chinese provinces and regions.

Thanks to timely preventive measures taken by central and local governments all the outbreaks have been effectively controlled and wiped out, said Hu.

(China.org.cn by Li Jingrong, November 8, 2005)