HA NOI, December 1, 2005: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will make his first official trip to Viet Nam this month to meet with high-level Vietnamese leaders as well as with officials involved with addressing Avian Influenza.

"The Secretary-General show of support to Viet Nam and its joint programme with the UN to combat Avian Influenza, is important as this country enters a critical phase in its fight against the virus," says United Nations Resident Coordinator, Jordan Ryan. Viet Nam has the highest reported number of human cases of Avian Influenza in the world.

The six-month emergency phase of a joint Government and UN initiative is already underway to meet immediate needs by supporting the national preparedness and response plan and through actions like, the widespread vaccination of poultry, post-vaccination surveillance and training provincial and
district level health officials. The Programme will also focus its efforts on important prevention and public information campaigns. According to the World Health Organization, Viet Nam has 93 reported human cases of Avian Influenza, including 42 deaths.

The Secretary-General will meet with members of a special Steering Committee set-up to guide the Joint Programme implementation and to increase coordination with Vietnamese government efforts to avoid a deadly pandemic of the H5N1 virus. This Committee is made up of key government, donor and UN officials and under the leadership of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Mr. Annan's trip to Viet Nam will come toward the end of a 14-day trip to Asia beginning this weekend, including official visits to China, South Korea and Japan.

Avian Influenza will again be on the agenda during his first stop in Bejing where he is expected to meet with senior officials, including President Hu Jintao and the Vice Prime Minister in charge of Avian Influenza.

From Beijing, he travels to Seoul, where he has meetings planned with President Roh Moo-hyun as well as with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ban Ki-Moon.

The next stop is Tokyo where, in addition to meetings with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister Taro. Aso, he will meet with a parliamentary group on UN reform. He also has an audience scheduled with the Emperor.

The Secretary-General is also expected to address the
opening of the World Trade Organization Ministerial
conference in Hong Kong.

(United Nations Country Team Viet Nam - PRESS RELEASE)