Japan to offer 1 bil. yen for developing countries get flu vaccine

TOKYO, Sept. 24 Kyodo -
Japan has decided to offer about 1.1 billion yen in emergency aid through the
World Health Organization to help developing countries get access to vaccine
against the new influenza H1N1 outbreak, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
The announcement comes in response to calls from the United Nations, and also
follows the United States and other countries that have decided to make a
certain amount of their H1N1 vaccine supply available to developing countries
through the WHO.
The emergency grant aid is aimed at enabling vaccination for people engaged in
medical activities and patients whose symptoms could become severe in
developing countries which would have difficulty in gaining access to the
vaccine, the ministry's press release said.
Japan will continue to closely cooperate with related countries and
organizations to address the influenza outbreak, it said.
==Kyodo