A special fund should be set up to cater for countries that did not have the means to prepare and equip themselves for a possible pandemic, Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly and Community Care, Mario Galea said.

During the International Ministerial Conference ‘The Way Forward’, on Animal and Pandemic Influenza, Mr Galea called for a massive effort in capacity building as well as the increase of funds allocated for pandemic preparedness, which includes sharing of resources between countries.

The Ministerial conference is expected to set a new global milestone by providing a way forward on animal and pandemic influenza and endorsing the need for further international collaboration to address emerging health threats arising at the interface between animals, humans and changing environments.

This global event is being organised by the European Union, the United States of America, with the support of the UN System Influenza Coordination (UNSIC) and key international agencies in animal and human health: the Food and Agriculture Organisation, The World Organisation for Animal Health and the World Health Organisation.

The conference, in Hanoi, is the seventh in a series of inter-ministerial conferences that have taken place since 2004.