Bird flu agencies seek up to 1 billion dollars from donors

BAMAKO, Dec 8 (Reuters) International agencies waging war on bird flu around the world to avert a possible human influenza pandemic met donors today to try to raise up to 1 billion dollars a year in extra funding, much of it to help Africa.

Today's donor conference, the culmination of a three-day summit on bird flu in Mali, West Africa, officially aims to secure 500-750 million dollars per year to fight bird flu over the next two to three years, though some hope to raise even more.

''I hope we can approach $1 billion. For me, it would be a success if we get the 500 million dollars,'' UN influenza coordinator David Nabarro told reporters late yesterday.

World Bank and United Nations officials say the latest money being sought -- over and above some 1.9 billion dollars pledged at a summit in Beijing in January -- is a fraction of the 2 trillion dollars a possible human influenza pandemic could cost worldwide.

''It's an ounce of prevention worth a tonne of cure. The returns on prevention are unbelievable,'' said Olga Jonas, of the World Bank's Avian and Human Pandemic Influenzas department.

''The needs are greatest for Africa, so it's only natural that the great majority of what's pledged here will be for Africa, but the situation may change in three or six months.'' Jonas said it was vital donors were generous and flexible rather than tying money to specific projects or countries.

Asia, where the outbreak started, remains hardest hit, but the deadly H5N1 virus has spread rapidly through Eastern Europe and parts of Africa since the Beijing donor conference. An estimated 250 million poultry birds have died or been culled, and 154 humans who caught flu from sick birds have died.

''We don't want earmarked money, we want money we can shift around the world as needed. It might break out in Latin America next month and then we'd be woefully short,'' Jonas said.

Scientists worry the H5N1 virus, which can already pass from sick birds to humans, may mutate and become able to jump from person to person, threatening a human flu pandemic.

PLEDGES EXPECTED Significant pledges were expected from the United States, which made the biggest single national pledge of 334 million dollars in Beijing, and from the European Union.

The US delegation said today Washington would make available an additional $100 million.

John Lange, US special representative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, said President George W Bush had requested further funds from Congress for the 2007 fiscal year.

''We've been impressed by the need for long-term capacity building (in Africa),'' Lange told Reuters.

But even before the conference started there were signs of some disappointment.

''What we regret very much is the absence of the Arab donors ... If there is a pandemic, the oil price will fall,'' said a source close to the donor talks.

Although Arab governments and institutions were mostly not present in Beijing, the source noted bird flu had since spread to the Arab world and Africa, a big recipient of Arab aid.

The UN's Nabarro warned donors a human flu pandemic, such as the Spanish influenza which killed tens of millions of people in 1918, could have ''catastrophic consequences''.

''We've done remarkably well in the last year, but there is still so much to be done, especially on this continent,'' he said.

''The Beijing money has nearly all been spent. Africa still has great needs,'' he said. ''I don't control your chequebooks, but please, for the sake of our futures, pledge generously.'' REUTERS AB VV1640