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(NaturalNews) The World Health Organization held its 57th annual Western Pacific Region meeting in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday, where the organization's Acting Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Richard Nesbit, said the H5N1 strain of bird flu is still the No. 1 threat to global public health.
Also during the meeting, WHO officials called on member countries to increase their efforts and use of resources to defend against the rising tide of non-communicable diseases, including bird flu. Last week, Nesbit warned that no nation would be immune if the bird flu mutated to a strain easily transmittable between humans -- which some scientists fear is only a matter of time -- so countries should be doing more to protect themselves. Nesbit added that the organization itself had about 50 percent of the funds it needed to assist countries in preparing to battle bird flu.
Peter Cordingley, a spokesperson for WHO, said many countries had neither the money nor the resources to put full emergency plans into action.
During the course of the meeting, which started Sept. 18, member countries were also encouraged to develop regional strategies to persuade health care workers to stay in poorer regions rather than leaving for wealthier areas.
Currently, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has caused 144 deaths across the globe, all of which were associated with close contact with birds. Scientists fear that the disease will mutate into a form easily transmittable between humans. While this would render the virus less deadly, its damage would be more widespread.
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