Visiting World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan Thursday hailed Egypt s program in dealing with bird flu and its successful efforts in combating polio, according to reports by the Chinese news agency Xinhua. Chan made the remarks during a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif earlier in the day, Cabinet spokesman Magdi Radi told reporters. Chan, who arrived Wednesday for a two-day visit, noted that the WHO plans to aid Egypt in locally producing poultry vaccines against bird flu, Radi said. The Egyptian government has already allocated funds to produce such vaccines, according to government officials. The WHO chief also expressed her expectation that Egypt will be announced a bilharzia-free area within the coming three years, Radi was reported to have said. The Xinhua reports added that Egypt and the WHO signed an agreement to promote cooperation over various health issues; mainly fighting bird flu, Tuberculosis and Bilharzia within the coming three years. This took place following a meeting between Chan and Egyptian Minister of Health and Population Hatem El-Gabali. Egypt has reported a total of 34 human bird flu cases since February 2006, of which 14 died while the other 20 have recovered.
