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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Fighting avian flu necessary on global level

Belgrade/Vienna, 7 June 2006

Serbian Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic took part today in a conference called “International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza” in Vienna.

Tomica Milosavljevic

Participants of the high-level meeting in Vienna, which is being organised by the EU, the UN and the World Bank, concluded that the role of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the coordination of epidemiology-related information is of utmost importance and that the quick reaction to the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 and other mutated types of viruses is very important, Milosavljevic told Beta news agency.

He added that participants of the conference agreed to organise a regional expert meeting on avian influenza in Belgrade in October, which will be held under the auspices of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe.

Bird flu is threat to all as the disease knows no boundaries between states and the responsibility is collective, Milosavljevic pointed out.

Serbia, like the whole world, is getting ready for possible mutations of H5N1 virus, which could form the seed of a global influenza pandemic, he said adding that the public attention related to bird flu in Serbia has decreased although the danger from the virus is still there.

The Serbian delegation in the conference also comprised Assistant Minister of Health Aleksandar Makaj, president of the Ministry of Health’s working group for avian influenza Predrag Kon and head of the veterinary inspection department in the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Slavoljub Stanojevic.