CAIRO: Egypt will need $350 million to fight bird flu, according to Minister of Health Hatem El Gabaly.
The minister made the announcement on Sunday at a press conference following the signing of a US-Egyptian agreement to donate $24 million.
USAID [US Agency for International Development] and Kuwait Fund for Arab and Economic Development are the first to fulfill their promises to fund the fight against bird flu, El Gabaly said.
So far, Egypt has received $95, 500 million, including the aforementioned $24 million, from different international and regional institutions, said Fayza Aboulnaga, the minister of international cooperation.
The USAID grant to Egypt will mainly cover the costs of the equipment necessary to fight the disease and fund a grand-scale vaccination program for all birds around the country.
The partnership also includes scientific cooperation between US research institutes like the NAMRU 3 and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the one side and the Egyptian ministries of health and agriculture on the other.
