International Conference in Vienna (June 6 – 7, 2006)
This Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) took place in Vienna on June 6 and 7, 2006, with the primary objective of monitoring progress achieved thus far at the worldwide level in mounting a collective response to AHI prevention and control.
Compared to last year (i.e., at the January 2006 Beijing conference), more emphasis was placed this year on Africa. The presentation of Dr. Traoré, speaking on behalf of all stakeholders involved in Africa under the auspices of ALive, was very well received: the Director of IBAR made a point of congratulating the Secretariat for the quality of the supporting materials used for his talk.
Two points that are essential for Africa emerged from this conference, namely: (i) the need for additional funding to meet all of the continent’s needs; and (ii) a proposal to hold the next SOM on African soil.
It is important to emphasize here the usefulness and seamless operation of the ALive Platform, which made it possible to organize the conference in a collective manner and to present a consensus-based and harmonized argument for Africa’s needs and the interventions to be carried out there.
International Conference in Beijing (January 18-19, 2006)
The International Conference in Beijing on avian and human influenza (co-organized by China, the EU and the World Bank) took place in Beijing on January 18 and 19, 2006, and focused on funding issues.
ALive had held a preparatory meeting on January 12, 2006, in advance of the Beijing conference.This was a videoconference of donors serving on the Executive Committee of ALive, and its goal was to arrive at a common position on Africa on the part of stakeholders attending the Beijing conference.It was thus decided that the mechanisms already existing in Africa—.e., PACE and ALive—would be promoted before any new ones were created.Africa was ably represented by the Director of BIRA and by delegations from 9 African countries, which presented the strategy for Africa, as well as an initial estimate of funding required to combat avian influenza in Africa at a time when the disease had not yet emerged on the continent.
In terms of financial commitments, the Beijing conference was a success: USD 1.9 billion were pledged by donors, 50 percent in the form of loans and 50 percent as grants.A funding mechanism—i.e., the World Bank-based Global Fund to Fight Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza—was also established and about USD 60 million (considered a small amount) from it allocated to Africa.Discussions also focused on coordination between donors and technical agencies in the interest of optimal use of funds, and on integrated plans for access to the funds.Dr. David Nabarro spoke on the need for a system to coordinate interventions.
International Conference in Geneva (November 6 and 7, 2005)
An International Conference on Avian Influenza was held in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 6 and 7, and focused on strategic and technical issues.For the first time, the international technical agencies—OIE, FAO and WHO—participated and presented a joint strategy.On this occasion, the following important joint messages were conveyed:
The disease remains primarily an animal disease that must be combated at the source. Prevention of the pandemic requires, above all, efforts to combat the disease at its animal source.Therefore, there is a need to strengthen early detection and rapid response mechanisms, and thus a corresponding need to strengthen veterinary departments. The fact that veterinary departments provide a service in the international public interest was amply expanded upon at this meeting.One of the main conclusions emerging from the General Conference was the concept of the Integrated Action Plan for the areas of animal health, human health, and communication.A request was also made for a business plan for Africa to be formulated in advance of the Beijing Conference. The BIRA presented the technical aspects of its plan for Africa.
