Bush proposes US$7.1 billion for bird flu defence

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush asked Congress on Tuesday for US$7.1 billion in emergency funding to prepare the United States for a possible pandemic of avian influenza.

The total includes requests of US$1.2 billion to make 20 million more doses of the current vaccine against H5N1 avian influenza, US$2.8 billion to accelerate new flu-vaccine technology and US$1 billion to stockpile more antiviral drugs.

"To respond to a pandemic we must have emergency plans in place in all 50 states, in every local community. We must ensure that all levels of government are ready to act to contain an outbreak," Bush said in a speech at the National Institutes of Health.

Several groups said the requests were nowhere near enough, but praised Bush for making a start.

The H5N1 avian influenza has so far only infected 122 people and killed 62, but it has spread to poultry flocks across many parts of Asia and into Europe.

It is making steady mutations that scientists say could allow it to spread easily from person to person and cause a catastrophic pandemic.

The world's governments have collectively admitted that, despite years of warnings, they are unprepared for a pandemic that could sicken up to a third of the population within months.

Delegates to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Brisbane, Australia said on Tuesday they would begin to develop a regional cooperation mechanism, but had no details.

Bush said he had submitted a US$7.1 billion request for emergency avian flu funds to the House of Representatives.

He repeated the advice of scientists who have said the most immediate need is for global surveillance to catch outbreaks immediately. He requested US$251 million to help detect and contain outbreaks before they spread around the world.

Stockpiles of drugs, lists of emergency responders and other efforts to build up emergency preparedness also figure in the plan, to be spelled out in detail on Wednesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt.

ENCOURAGING VACCINE MAKERS

Bush said he was also asking Congress to reduce liability for companies that make influenza vaccine. Drug companies have said fear of liability suits have helped keep them out of the vaccine market.

The administration has said it will pursue ways to lure vaccine makers back to the United States. Currently only five companies in the world make vaccine used for routine childhood jabs for the US market.

Recent shortfalls in influenza-vaccine production - last year Chiron Corp lost its licence and cost the United States half its anticipated supply -- highlight the industry's tenuous state.

"By strengthening our domestic vaccine industry, we can help ensure that our nation will never again have a shortage of vaccine for seasonal flu," Bush said.

The United States is adding to its supply of H5N1 vaccine, made experimentally by Chiron, Sanofi-Aventis and others. But the vaccine would only provide partial protection against a pandemic strain of flu and would have to be reformulated to match whatever mutation eventually emerges -- a process that would take months.

Scientists say a better way of making flu vaccines is years off, but they have been pressing the government to make a start. The vaccine against annual flu does not protect against avian flu.

Bush also requested US$1.03 billion to add to the 2.3 million treatment courses of influenza drugs the United States already has stockpiled. Two drugs -- Roche and Gilead Sciences Inc's Tamiflu, and GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza, can help relieve the severest symptoms of avian influenza.

He said the government had set up a dedicated website http://pandemicflu.gov.

Experts have warned against over-reliance on antiviral drugs in the event of a pandemic, because it is not clear how well they will work and whether anywhere near enough will be available. They say it will take years to build a sufficient stockpile.

The Trust For America's Health, a nonprofit group, said there were serious shortfalls in the plan, including an over-reliance on state funding and no mention of diagnostic tests - the first step towards watching for outbreaks.

- REUTERS