The World Bank deplored lower budget allocated by Indonesia, the bird flu hardest-hit country, to fight bird flu from 54.4 million U.S. dollars in 2006 to 46.5 million U.S. dollars in 2007, the bank top official for Indonesian representative Andrew Steer said Thursday.

"The budget needed should be 250 million U.S. dollars a year, but the Indonesian government allocates less than 100 U.S. dollars, " said Steer.

He urged Indonesia to work harder and allocate more funds to eradicate the disease.

Indonesia has surpassed Vietnam to be the most severely hit country, with 46 out of its 60 contracted people died of the disease.

"It is clear that the situation is getting worse, and, therefore, the allocated funds must be increased," Steer was quoted by the Antara News Agency as saying.

Source: Xinhua