The Indonesian government is to report its efforts in improving information and surveillance systems to eradicate avian influenza at the World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland starting Nov. 7, a local news agency said Saturday.

Quoting Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari, the Antara News Agency said in the report that the Indonesian delegation will mainly brief the WHO meeting how the country has improved the information and surveillance networks in the remote and isolated areas to eradicate the bird flu.

The three-day meeting organized by the WHO in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organization of Animal Health and the World Bank will examine the WHO members' plans to eradicate avian influenza with the focus on countries that have been stricken and bear the high risk of being hit by the fatal virus, the report said.

Supari said that the Indonesian delegation will also explain to the meeting other steps taken by the government to eradicate the epidemic, such as increasing the research capacity of laboratories, appointing 40 hospitals to specially treat avian influenza patients and preparing to produce a vaccine "Tamiflu Vaccine."

The virus, which has killed four people and sickened three others in the country, has taken more than 60 lives across Asia since late 2003, while hundreds of millions of birds and poultry have been killed.

The government has earlier said that it was monitoring bird flu using mobile surveillance units, enlisting between 500 and 1,000 veterinary students from several state universities to look for sick chickens in poultry farms, and also inviting volunteers to take part in the monitoring efforts.

Source: Xinhua