Foreign ministers of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy, meeting in their third annual conference in Vientiane earlier this month, agreed to increase cooperation in the fight against bird flu.
The five ACMECS member nations include Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Group members agreed to cooperate in a pandemic preparedness plan for Avian Flu and some emerging infectious diseases.
The plan includes information sharing and the training of personnel to be better prepared to cope with a possible bird flu pandemic. Thailand, who initiated the plan, has agreed to train personnel from the four other ACMECS member nations.
The cooperation is to build on Thailand's and Vietnam's experiences with Bird Flu. Both nations has had human deaths linked to the Avian virus H5N1. Laos has reportd none but lost over 200,000 chickens because of the disease.
Listen to our Laos Today report for more details.