International funding for Cambodian pandemic flu contingency
America, Japan and the EU agreed to fund an emergency pandemic flu project for the Cambodian Government. In total, the donated funds will be 11 million U.S dollars, a significant amount of money, particularly in the current economic climate
While details of the project have not yet been publicised, the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has reportedly announced that "We have to prevent bird flu and educate our people about it regularly before it breaks out and kills people and poultry."
A flu pandemic is judged by the UK Government to be the biggest threat to our country on the National Risk Register. The flu strain H5N1 has already killed 16 people this year according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is tracking the spread of the virus. This figure does not include the cases in Indonesia as the country is no longer reporting to the WHO on a case by case basis despite the fact they have experienced the highest number of cases and outbreaks and is likely to be the origin of a flu pandemic.
Pandemic expert, Alison Brown, CEO of Healthcare Connections says "Whilst it is refreshing to see governments taking the threat of pandemic flu seriously, the donation of such a large sum of money during this financial struggle is alarming. It is also of interest that the project has been kept very low key – is this to prevent panic?"
She adds "There is no better time for businesses to follow the Government's lead and implement comprehensive pandemic plans. We simply cannot afford to ignore the threat any longer; a flu pandemic is already predicted to cause financial devastation, what would it do to an already crippled economy?"
