Hong Kong should be donating more to the global fight against bird flu to help control outbreaks at their source, such as in Indonesia and on the mainland, a top health worker said yesterday.
Speaking in Hong Kong, the director of Care USA's health unit, Sanjay Sinho, said: 'Preventing avian flu in Hong Kong means preventing avian flu in the world.' A January summit in Beijing saw pledges of US$1 billion for a global flu response from donor countries, but just US$300 million has actually been received.
'No place can prevent the disease alone. But I think Hong Kong can take [preventative] action at a national level and try to provide assistance and support to the areas where the disease [is present],' he said. Limiting travel and reducing social gatherings would have a limited impact at the start of a pandemic, he added.
'The best response for Hong Kong is looking at avian flu from the poverty perspective and trying to stop it wherever it happens,' he said. He warned that with recurring outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry and sporadic human cases there was a danger of the public getting 'bird flu fatigue'.
'[The media also] needs to understand how to communicate this issue in a way that does not create paranoia.'
Care USA is collaborating with the local H5N1 Concern Group to start community-based projects.
