Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi today pledged $135 million to help Thailand, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries prepare for a possible bird flu pandemic. Koizumi also told leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, that Japan will store antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu for 500,000 people, and invite more than 100 researchers from related areas annually over the next three years. Koizumi yesterday arrived in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur for three days of talks with leaders from Asean including discussions on how to control outbreaks of the H5N1 avian flu strain, which has infected at least 137 people and killed 70 in Asia, according to World Health Organization statistics.
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