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Pledges from delegates to the New Delhi conference for money to be used to combat bird flu were lower than last year and far short of what officials say is needed.
Pledges traditionally come in the form of grants, loans, and technical assistance.
Donors pledge extra $406 mln in bird flu funds
By Alistair Scrutton
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Foreign donors have pledged $406 million in additional funds for efforts to combat bird flu, but another $800 million is still needed and countries still need to be better prepared for any pandemic, officials said on Thursday.
The funds were pledged on the final day of a three-day summit in New Delhi, India, of experts on avian influenza from across the world, aimed at coordinating strategies to combat the disease.
"Countries are much better prepared now than they were a year ago for a pandemic, however the preparedness is not as broad or deep as we would like it to be," David Nabarro, the United Nations influenza coordinator, told reporters.
"Although some countries have tested their preparedness in exercises ... there is still more testing to be done because when the pandemic does come it will be too late to prepare," he added.
Last year at a similar meeting around $475 million was pledged by donors, but experts played down the apparent shortfall in funding, saying they were confident further funds would be forthcoming.
"A number of countries that might have wished to pledge to this meeting were not in a position ... to organise their pledges on time," Nabarro said.
The United States, the largest donor in the fight against bird flu, raised its pledge to $629 million, an additional $195 million in funding.
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