Read the full article by Ben Blanchard on today's Yahoo!News.
" International donors pledged $1.9 billion on Wednesday for a global fund to combat bird flu, while Iraq tested a dead teenage girl for the virus.
"The funding promised at the end of an international conference in Beijing was well in excess of an initial target set by the World Bank to raise at least $1.2 billion.....
"The World Bank has estimated that a pandemic lasting a year could cost the global economy up to $800 billion. Across the globe, millions could die if the H5N1 avian flu virus mutates just enough to pass easily among people.....
"Of the $1.9 billion pledged, about $900 million would be in the form of loans, and the rest in grants.....
"The United States pledged about $334 million, saying in a statement the money would be mainly in the form of grants and technical assistance. The total EU pledge is nearly $250 million."
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
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