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World Tourism Prepares for Avian Flu |
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Written by World Tourism
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Friday, 14 April 2006 |
Travel And Tourism Organizations Collaborate For Avian Flu Preparedness
Major global travel organizations commit to work together to support UN coordinated avian flu preparation and response.
Speaking at the Tourism Summit in Washington DC, the Secretary General
of the World Tourism Organization Francisco Frangialli referred to the
UN coordinated effort to respond to avian flu and prepare for a
possible human pandemic. "Huge cross border disasters have had an
increasingly global impact and continually necessitate coordinated
action by international bodies who are members of the UN family, with
implementation by nation states," he asserted. "We have seen this in
SARS, the tsunami and now with avian flu and preparations for a human
pandemic.
He announced, with the support of UN System Influenza Coordinator David
Nabarro, a network of travel organizations to ensure that the sector
fulfils its role in this initiative and in national preparedness plans.
The launch organizations involved in the Tourism Emergency Response
Network (TERN) are - World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), International
Hotel & Restaurant Association (IHRA), Pacific Asia Travel
Association (PATA), International Federation of Tour Operators (IFTO),
United Federation of Travel Agents Associations (UFTAA) Airports
Council International (ACI) and the (International Air Transport
Association (IATA).
The organizations have agreed that planning for the potential evolution
of the virus to a pandemic form is a common concern and committed to:
* work closely with the UN System Influenza Coordinator, the WHO and
other involved UN agencies; * share real time information and ideas; *
give clear, concise and geographically specific public messages.
They underscored the following points as of April 2006:
Avian Flu is a disease essentially impacting fowl
* There are rare
cases where the disease has passed to animals or humans;
* No efficient
human-to-human transmission strain has developed;
* Public education
reduces the risk of avian to human transmission.
There is no present threat to tourists and there is no case for restricting travel.
* If traveling to flu-infected localities, the best advice is to avoid contact with live birds of any variety.
Part of this collaboration will be the development of a web portal by
the UNWTO, which provides the basis for an open industry information
network to enhance avian flu preparedness.
Geoffrey Lipman, Special Advisor to the UNWTO Secretary General, who is
coordinating the TERN project, said that "The uncertainty of mutation
of avian flu to a human pandemic means measured contingency preparation
without overreaction, across the international community and with a
focus at the national level". "The Tourism sector is an important
stakeholder in the total global preparedness effort. The network will
help us play that part responsibly and more effectively."
For further information:
www.world-tourism.org
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Last Updated ( Friday, 14 April 2006 )
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Saturday, 06 September 2008
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