Countries making great improvement in the war against bird flu have done good jobs regarding surveillance, compensation and public awareness, a senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in Da Nang city in Vietnam Saturday.

Although countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, have made high political commitment towards the fight against bird flu, "animal surveillance, compensation for farmers, and level of public awareness (about the disease), are three keys factors to determine the war" Shigeru Omi, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said at a press briefing.

He noted that surveillance over bird flu among fowls and people, state financial assistance for raisers who have poultry culled, and enhancement of community awareness about the risk and danger of outbreaks are of great importance, especially when the disease is not only limited to Asia and migratory birds, but also Europe and Africa and the trade of fowls and related products.

If a pandemic occurred, countries should quickly report situations in their territory to the WHO, and then smooth coordination and cooperation should be implemented to contain outbreaks at sources and supply anti-viral medicines like Tamiflu in a timely and effective way, he said, noting that the containment includes restricting movements.

Vietnam and Thailand have done "wonderful jobs" regarding the three key factors, especially compensation for farmers, he said, noting that compensation has been "put in place and implemented widely" in the two countries.

However, state budgets of many governments are not sufficient, so "it is time for the international community to fulfill their commitment, not in word, but in cash," the WHO official said.

The press briefing was held one day after the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Avian and Influenza Pandemics held in Vietnam′s central Da Nang city.

The one-day meeting, attended by some 190 representatives, including seven health and agriculture ministers and 13 deputy ministers from the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the APEC′s Secretariat and five international organizations, adopted the APEC Action Plan on the Prevention and Response to Avian and Influenza Pandemics.

Under the action plan, 21 APEC member economies committed to beefing up cooperation with one another in five key areas, including multi-sector cooperation and coordination on avian and pandemic influenza, establishing best practices and common approaches to risk communications, mitigating negative effects of avian influenza on agriculture and trade, working with the private sector to help ensure continuity of business, trade and essential services, and strengthening regional and international cooperation.