Shortchanging other diseases?

Some are wary of the pro-active approach to allocating funds to avian flu in an attempt to prevent a pandemic. Why? In January 2006, donors from around the world pledged $1.9 billion to fight bird flu, the Associated Press reports. Spending billions of dollars on an illness that so far has killed under 100 people, some critics say, may siphon resources away from more immediate dangers--like AIDS, malaria and hunger.