US announces US$14mln aid for pandemic control programme

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US will provide US$14 million this year to help four Lower Mekong countries initiate a programme targeting Emerging Pandemic Threats in the region.

Clinton told the Foreign Ministers of Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam at a meeting in Hanoi on July 22 that the programme will improve the identification of and response to new public health threats that originate in animals and strengthen animal and human health systems to combat outbreaks of infectious diseases.

She also announced a US-launched programme to assist the four countries in developing cooperative strategies to address the impact of climate change on water resources, food security and livelihood.

The US has identified US$3 million for the first year and intends to continue similar levels of funding in the second and third year of the programme, she said.

This is the second meeting between the four Lower Mekong countries and the US within the framework of the ongoing 43rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi.

The ministers discussed issues relating to environmental protection, health care, education and infrastructure development. They also looked at the building of a coordination mechanism to put cooperation programmes in place.
They agreed to maintain their senior officials meeting (SOM) on a regular basis and organise their third meeting in 2011.