World and civil wars and the possession of nuclear weapons are no more the basic source threatening world peace and security as other non-traditional sources became the main threat such as terrorism, catastrophes, AIDS and others.

Suffice to say that AIDS claimed the lives of millions of people especially in Africa.

Bird flu is the new epidemic which hit both the rich and poor countries alike as it rapidly kills birds and people who are dealing with birds.

That is why no single country can fight this epidemic alone or produce vaccinations required for that. Therefore, there should be some sort of international mechanism acting under the umbrella of World Health organization to move quickly at any part of the world to face as early as possible the spread of the bird flu.

There should be as well a fund to be dedicated to wiping out this epidemic to be supervised by the United Nations to help the poor countries fight this bird flu or other disasters.

Al-Aharam
Editorial
February 27th 2006