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RI-AUSTRALIA AGREE TO DEVELOP BIRD FLU VACCINE TRANSPARENTLY
Sydney -
Indonesia and Australia will cooperate in developing an Avian
Influenza vaccine transparently as part of the two countries'
commitment to combat the deadly disease, the Indonesian Minister for
Health Siti Fadilah Supari said on Wednesday (6/6/07).
The
cooperation will be bound in a bilateral agreement, Minister Fadilah
said before meeting with her Australian counterpart Tony Abbot MHR
on the sidelines of the ongoing Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Health Ministerial Meeting.
However,
she refused to answer whether the cooperation will help Indonesia
in getting the anti virus Tamiflu at a cheap price. "Just wait and
see. Don't discuss it now," she said. Australia is one of the
countries which seriously helps Indonesia in handling the virus
after it broke out in 2003. The Australian government has so far
extended Rp11 billion worth of additional funds to Indonesia to
detect the bird flu in Indonesia.
Australian Ambassador for Indonesia, Bill Farmer, said the fund was
part of the Australian package worth Rp107 billion. And up to
October last year, some Rp62 billion has been spent to fund the
deployment of a World Health Organisation (WHO) fast reaction team,
the purchase of 50,000 packages of Tamiflu, form the national
planning for pandemic preparedness for Indonesia and the
public-basis control.
APEC
Health Ministers are attending a meeting on June 6-8 to strengthen
their joint efforts to fight against the bird flu pandemic and its
impact on the economies of the APEC member countries.
APEC
consists of Indonesia, Australia, US, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China,
Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, The Philippines, Russia, Singapore,
Thailand, and Vietnam. (Antara, 6/6/07)
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