JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia´s health minister called Monday for new rules to govern the development of human vaccines against bird flu to ensure poorer nations can afford them.

Siti Fadilah Supari made the call at a World Health Organisation (WHO) bird flu meeting that aims to resolve a dispute with Indonesia, the country worst-hit by the disease, over sharing virus samples for key tests.

"The existing process in which the WHO and its affiliates share virus samples with private companies, without collaboration with the countries from which virus samples originate, is unacceptable for developing countries," she said.

"I think the system should be improved," she said. She announced in February that Indonesia had stopped sending samples to the WHO over concerns they would be used to develop pricey vaccines beyond poorer countries´ budgets.

Indonesia has asked for a legal guarantee that samples sent to international WHO reference laboratories for tests -- a process said to be key in fighting human flu -- will not be exploited for profit by drugs firms.

It has already signed a cooperation agreement with US company Baxter International to jointly develop a human bird flu vaccine in a bid to ensure it benefits from a future treatment.

Some 16 nations are attending the WHO meeting in Indonesia´s capital Jakarta to discuss "responsible practices" for sharing virus samples.

Indonesia has suffered 66 human deaths from bird flu, the world´s highest toll, and 86 confirmed cases. The WHO says there have been 281 cases and 169 deaths worldwide, mostly in Southeast Asia.

Scientists fear the H5N1 bird flu strain could mutate into a form easily spread among humans, leading to a global pandemic with the potential to kill millions.