Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
because they could not raise sufficient funds to contain the spread. Indonesian health
authorities had to contain a huge outbreak of the dengue fever (which had infected
58 000 people and left 650 dead), sparing few resources to handle an animal disease
(wHo 2005).
the big success stories—the countries that managed to control and eradicate the
HPaI infection on their chicken farms—were a handful of wealthy states in europe
and north america (Fao and oIe 2005a). this was not merely a matter of having
the resources for a rapid response, but also of having the right preconditions—an
organised and sanitary commercial poultry industry, which, in turn, is a function of
domestic resources and health standards. Having an integrated private sector with
robust state support helps absorb the potential financial loses of preparedness.
with other social priorities and diseases competing for scarce resources,
preparing for another emergency or containing a 'mere' animal infection may seem
like a luxury. Yet the world cannot afford to ignore HPaI. Preparedness planning, by
its very nature, cannot wait until the onset of the catastrophe: it calls for preventive
measures, from early warning to vaccine development (wHo 2005).
Making Money Work: Capacity Building and Technical Assistance
Financing is critical to the success of the global response. but beyond the price
tag lies the far greater challenge of making money work (Soni 2004). Sustainable
policies require investment in technical assistance and absorptive capacity, tackling
the politically tricky question of health worker brain drain and providing leadership
on trade (including drug access). civil society must be engaged in all these activities,
both as a watchdog and a trusted implementing partner.
First, the framework for managing avian influenza must not turn out to be a short-
empowered to monitor the states' delivery on their promises and to ensure that funds
are not funnelled to other activities. Second, a good portion of the investment ought
to be devoted to local capacity building. the situation with HIv/aIDS, tuberculosis
(tb), and malaria in developing countries carries important lessons for efforts to
manage avian influenza; even where donors have marshalled sufficient resources and
will, they have encountered the challenge of implementing accelerated, large-scale
programmes in resource-poor settings. Inadequate capacity in recipient countries has
related financial aid package must incorporate the technical assistance needed to
help countries run their programmes independently, develop the local public health
infrastructures capable of absorbing the large influx of aid, and facilitate the training
of local personnel.
this also raises the issue of transparency of financial aid, in which the independent
voice of civil society and its freedom of action become the critical guarantee that
multilateral assistance would reach its target population. In essence, civil society
organisations provide 'servant leadership', acting at once as watchdogs, advocates,
and partners in knowledge transfer.
