Mr Thuong made the comments at a seminar in Hanoi on April 18 aimed at reviewing measures to prevent and control possible outbreaks of the deadly disease in Vietnam.

Since 2006, the six-month project has disseminated over 200,000 posters and leaflets to more than 108,000 households, not to mention training over 2,000 volunteers in 58 courses on bird flu prevention, according to VNRC statistics.

”The project has made a positive impact on the lives of people in the community here. They are now better prepared to deal with any future outbreaks of the disease,” Mr Thuong said.

Ultimately, the project plans to see half of the population in 418 communes, 10 provinces nationwide, provided with enough knowledge and basic skills to prevent an H5N1 pandemic from spreading in the country.

Funding for the project was provided by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.