Govt mulls Bt9-billion plan to minimise bird-flu threat
Fearing the worst from bird flu outbreaks or a pandemic, the government is to consider spending Bt9 billion on a three-year containment plan and Bt1.55 billion to build a vaccine plant, Deputy Prime Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham said yesterday.
After a meeting of the committee formed to tackle bird flu, Paiboon said the Bt9 billion would be allocated from 2008 to 2010. The next step would be to gather public opinion before submitting the decision to the Cabinet in about one month, he said. So far this year, bird flu had been found in Phitsanulok, Nong Khai, Angthong and Mukdahan. Paiboon noted that 13 of 20 countries found with bird flu were in Asia, therefore Thailand needed to closely watch the disease in both animals and humans, especially during the change of seasons in July and October-November. He said plans to tackle bird flu this year were in place and relevant agencies would closely screen at-risk areas starting from July. Paiboon said the committee also considered a proposal to build a vaccine plant to produce influenza and bird flu vaccines. Once approved by the Cabinet, the plant - initially expected to produce 2 million doses a year - would be ready in about five years. Permanent Secretary for Agriculture Yukol Limlaemthong said manufacturing of a bird flu vaccine for poultry had reached the stage where officials could produce an anti-virus. They were studying immunity in poultry to see if it came from vaccination or was natural.
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