Australian Embassy
Vietnam
Embassy address: 8 Dao Tan Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi - Telephone: 3831 7755 - Fax: 3831 7711

The Signing Ceremony
of the Joint GoV-UN Program on AI – Phase II
Speech by
Australian Ambassador, H.E Mr Bill Tweddell
09 January, 2007 – Hanoi



Your Excellency, Dr Cao Duc Phat, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Your Excellencies Ambassadors and Representatives of International Agencies, other distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to participate in today’s Signing Ceremony of the Second Phase of the Joint Government of Vietnam - UN Program on Avian Influenza. I am honoured to have been asked to make some brief comments.

We continue to be heartened by the concerted efforts of UN and Government Agencies through the Joint Program and related initiatives. This has clearly been an example for other countries to follow. The Integrated Operational Program has set a sound framework for national and international efforts to combat Avian Influenza in Vietnam.

Enhanced coordination with and among Vietnam’s development partners is vital to the successful implementation of the Program and we are pleased that the UN is taking the lead in supporting the Vietnamese government in this area.

I am sure representatives of other bilateral development partners of Vietnam would also join me in congratulating the Government of Vietnam on their effort - and Minister Phat in particular on his leadership in coordinating the Steering Committee.

The Australian Government has been delighted to participate in this collaboration process with other development partners of Vietnam during Phase I implementation of the Joint Government of Vietnam and UN program. On the back of the success of Phase I, Australia is pleased to be providing, along with Canada, Finland, Luxembourg and New Zealand, further support to the joint program under Phase II.

Although the H5N1 virus was successfully contained last year, it has reappeared in the poultry sector in recent weeks. This is, of course, a cause of great concern, not only for Vietnam but also for other countries in the region.

The re-appearance of the virus is also a reminder that what we have together achieved so far has been only an initial success. We must continue our tireless efforts to help with the development of systems and structures which will ensure early detection and containment of future outbreaks. Despite the successes much still needs to be done and we feel it entirely appropriate that Australia and other development partners provide ongoing support for the Joint Program in its second phase.

We expect that through these joint efforts, we will contribute to building an effective and sustainable approach to reducing the risks posed by this, and other similar viruses, which have the potential to cause such enormous economic and social damage.

Thank you.

 


Australian on-going assistance for AI in Vietnam



1. Providing A$3m for Phase 2 of the Joint GOV-UN Program on AI (in Phase I, Australian support was $1m)

2. Establishment of the Australia-Vietnam Lab Partnership Program for human and animal health.
• Total budget of A$1.8m over 3 years from beginning of 2007.
• The Australian organisations participating in the program will be the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Lab (VIDRL) and the Australian Animal Health Lab (AAHL).
• A delegation from VIDRL will visit Vietnam (MOH, Preventive Medicine Department, NIHE, Pasteur Institutes in Nha Trang and HCMC) from 29 Jan to 5 Feb 2007 to begin mobilisation of the program.

3. On-going preparation to provide A$1m for the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) through the Joint GOV-UN Program on AI (funded separately to the A$3m contribution provided to the Joint Program as mentioned in Point 1)

4. Placement of an Australian epidemiologist with the WHO in Vietnam under the ‘Australian Epidemiology Regional Assistance Program - AERAP’ (A$250,000 for 11 months which commenced in early 2006). Note: this was through Regional AusAID funding, not the bilateral program to Vietnam.

5. Participation in the newly established GOV-donors AI Partnership for Avian and Human Influenza (PAHI)

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