Originally published December 18 2005
Vietnam and Australia prepare citizens with bird flu drills
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Large-scale drills in Australia and Vietnam have been used to coordinate pandemic responses under simulated conditions, and the results have shown these two countries where their infrastructure needs shoring up.
Vietnam, the country hardest hit by bird flu, held a large-scale drill on Sunday to test its pandemic preparedness, as Australia planned a similar exercise later this week.
India's top drug manufacturer said Sunday it was making progress in talks with Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG to make a generic version of the antiviral drug Tamiflu.
The drug is in short supply as countries around the world try to stockpile it in case there is a human pandemic _ which experts fear could happen if the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus mutates into a form that passes easily between people.
About 900 people _ including military, police, and health and agricultural officials _ ran through a scenario in which throngs of people were falling ill and dying.
"Our message is that Vietnam is committed to fight bird flu and a bird flu pandemic if it occurs," she said.
Chien walked through an elementary school where classrooms had been converted into wards for less-severe patients.
She also watched army officials spray the school building with disinfectant, while doctors inside scurried from patient to patient armed with oxygen and Tamiflu.
Australia is to hold a similar exercise this week, while other countries are planning desktop simulations to assess how well different government and civil agencies work together.
Australia's four-day Exercise Eleusis will begin Tuesday and involve 1,000 people, Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran and Health Minister Tony Abbott said Sunday.
At least 68 people have died from bird flu since it emerged in Asia in 2003 _ nearly two-thirds of them in Vietnam, according to WHO.
Quarantine controls have been bolstered at entry points, and officials are disseminating bird flu information nationwide, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.
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