An official of the Hong Kong civil aviation on Thursday called for regional cooperation to curb the spread of avian flu on air travel.

At the opening of a two-day meeting of the International Civil Aviation, Norman Lo, Director-General of Civil Aviation of the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said that the International Civil Aviation Organization has initiated the arrangement to coordinate the cooperative arrangements among the participating jurisdictions and airports to reduce the risk of spreading avian influenza and similar illnesses via air travel.

Lo made the remarks at the opening of the Cooperative Arrangement for Preventing the Spread of Communicable Diseases through Air Travel First Steering Committee Meeting.

About 60 delegates from 25 organizations including the International Civil Aviation Organization, World Health Organization, International Air Transport Association and Airports Council International are attending the meeting.

Aviation and medical experts will discuss the implementation of the International Civil Aviation Organization's guidelines for preventing the spread of communicable disease through air travel and identify effective preventive measures. Delegates will also tour Hong Kong International Airport and see the measures and equipment adopted for preventing the spread of communicable diseases.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2007)