Via the Jakarta Post: World Bank calls on Indonesia to do more to fight bird flu virus. Excerpt:
The World Bank criticized Indonesia's efforts to fight bird flu, saying Wednesday the country must increase its spending on the virus if it wants more financial help from the international community.
"To be honest, Indonesia has not done well with avian influenza," World Bank Country Director Andrew Steer told reporters after talks with the country's Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Indonesia, the worst-hit country by bird flu, said last week it was allocating US$46.5 million (euro36.3 million) to fight bird flu next year, down from US$54.4 million this year.
But Kalla indicated that the government was ready to spend more, Steer said.
"(Kalla) wants to reverse that (policy)," Steer said. Steer said it would be hard to raise more international funds without greater government commitment.
"Our job is to go out into the international community and raise as much funding as possible," he said. "But it's difficult to make a case if Indonesia's contribution is declining."
