By March 12, five Vietnamese provinces, namely Hanoi, Ha Tay, Hai Duong, Can Tho and Vinh Long, reported no new outbreaks during the past 21 days. The Vietnamese Government and people are intensifying measures to contain the disease with help from the international community, including FAO.
The following interview with Mr Andrew Speedy was conducted by a Voice of Vietnam Radio reporter on the sidelines of a conference on the future of Vietnamese farmers after bird flu outbreaks, which was held recently in Hanoi by UN agencies and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Mr Speedy said, “We know that the program to control influenza has been running for about two years and has been very successful, but we still need to tackle the problem as it exist today, which is at a low level, but we have still had a few outbreaks recently. So there is still job to do in managing and controlling the disease, in vaccination and surveillance, and in helping laboratories and the teams to quickly respond to outbreaks and to react well. And then there is also the job of helping farmers to get back on their feet after the problem of avian influenza. We want to see small farmers supported, we want to see poultry production working again in Vietnam, and perhaps developing towards a more improved, a more modern poultry industry, which will be safe and which will be sustainable in medium and long-term.”
Reporter: You have said that Vietnam has somehow succeeded in avian influenza. Could you elaborate on Vietnam’s success?
Mr Speedy: Yes, of course. FAO along with its partners in the UN and its donors from the United States, Japan, several Scandinavian countries, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland have worked very closely with the government. The government has worked very well, both centrally and in the provinces, first of all in dealing with the outbreaks and then in controlling the disease when it occurred in particular. I mean the slaughter of 50 million chickens in the first wave in 2004 which was followed up with vaccinations.
This has proved to be highly effective. More than 100 million poultry have been vaccinated in the first round and it’s just started again. We known that there have been outbreaks, but mostly on unvaccinated flocks. So we know that vaccination has been a good policy, but it has been an expensive policy. And we know that we now need to go through one or two more rounds of vaccination followed by improved surveillance, and again dealing with the outbreaks as they occur. So it has been a very effective campaign, maybe the best so far among affected countries. It’s been much better than some neighboring countries. So we would congratulate the ministry of agriculture and rural development and the government in what they’ve done so far and we need to carry on doing it effectively during the next few years.
Reporter: How will the FAO assist Vietnam in the coming years?
Mr Speedy: FAO, with its partners, are in the second phase of the joint government – United Nations program. We just signed it recently, in January, and it will continue now for several more years. Also, the program with the World Bank and the government which is also going forward, looking also at the rehabilitation and helping the poultry sector to get back on its feet. And there are several other programs that will continue for the next 2 to 3 years. So FAO will continue to work in the way it has worked with the government and with the department of animal health, helping to support surveillance, helping to support laboratories, helping to support socio-economic management and helping to support farmers get back on their feet after avian influenza.
Reporter: Thank you very much.
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