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SINGAPORE: A weeklong workshop on preventing and
managing an outbreak of bird flu in Southeast Asia was launched in
Singapore on Thursday.
Singapore’s foreign ministry
said public health officials from several members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) would participate in the
workshop, jointly organized by the city-state and France.
The meeting aims to “equip
participants with the knowledge and skills to develop and execute an
effective plan to prevent and manage avian influenza outbreaks in
healthcare settings,” the ministry said.
It will also provide a forum in
which to exchange views and share country updates on the bird flu
situation.
Singapore and France jointly
organized the workshop under a program to train participants from
Asean states in areas such as public health, governance and higher
education.
Broadcaster Channel NewsAsia
quoted French Ambassador to Singapore Pierre Buhler as saying
Thursday: “It’s a very worthy cause, avian flu. It’s not just
local. We also have outbreaks of avian flu in France. So we feel
very concerned over this issue.”
France, Europe’s biggest
poultry producer, stepped up surveillance earlier this month after
tests on three dead swans confirmed an outbreak of the H5N1 strain
of bird flu.
The World Health Organization has
recorded 318 cases of bird flu in humans worldwide, of which 192
have resulted in deaths, according to the latest tally on July 11.
--AFP
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