Pledges of $1.9 Billion at Avian Influenza Conference

The global threat of avian influenza has moved 33 nations and multilateral institutions to pledge $1.9 billion to fight a possible pandemic of the disease. The pledges were made in Beijing, China, January 18th at the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza, a conference co-sponsored by the World Bank, the European Commission, and the Chinese government. The amount exceeds the $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion the World Bank said was needed over the next 3 years, an unexpected “oversubscription,” that would allow poor nations to rely more on grants than loans in fighting the disease.