WASHINGTON (Agence France Presse) – President Barack Obama has declared swine flu a "national emergency," the White House said Saturday, as the United States reels from millions of cases of infection and over 1,000 deaths.

The emergency declaration, signed by the president late Friday, enhances the ability of medical treatment facilities to handle a spike in influenza A(H1N1) patients by allowing medical officials to temporarily bypass certain federal requirements."The 2009 H1N1 pandemic continues to evolve," Obama said in the declaration.

The  ASEAN  Foundation  in cooperation with the  Vietnamese government through the ASEAN Viet Nam –Viet Nam Ministry of Foreign Affairs  (MOFA) and NetNam Corporation formally launched last  1 October 2009,  the   project  dubbed as the Communication and Information Systems for the  Control of Avian Influenza  (CISCAI), in a ceremony held at  the Government Guest House, in Hanoi City, Viet Nam.

 

The event was launched   by  Dr. Filemon A. Uriarte, Jr., Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation  and   Director  Prof. Tran Bah Thai of NetNam Corporation.   The event was  also graced by   H.E. Pham Quang Vinh, Assistant Minister,  MOFA, and Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thuy, Deputy Director General, ASEAN Department,  (MOFA).  Other   agency partners  of the CISCAI who attended the formal ceremony  were  representatives from  the Viet Nam National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE),