MOSCOW, February 2 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government intends to allocate over 1.3 billion rubles ($46 million) to fight bird flu in the country, Health and Social Development Minister Mikhail Zurabov said after a Cabinet meeting Thursday.
The minister specified that the action plan submitted to the government included the development of a vaccine against the disease, poultry immunization, expert training and the purchase of diagnostic equipment.
Zurabov said Russia would allocate over 330 million rubles ($11 million) to reequip institutes dealing with the bird flu problem.
He said Russia would contribute $1 million to a trust fund being created to fight the disease, which will be managed by the World Bank, as part of Group of Eight industrialized nations initiatives.
