WHO Meeting Warns of Flu Pandemic
/An influenza pandemic, when it arrives, will be an immediate threat to
the health of nearly everyone on Earth, but very little is being done
to prevent its potential devastation, say experts who met this week at
the World Health Organization's headquarters in Switzerland. A
vaccine is unlikely to prevent the global spread of a pandemic strain
of flu virus, but it could save millions of lives. To do so, the world
must be ready to make, test, pay for, distribute and probably share
what will be a scarce supply, the experts concluded. "We have a
unique window of opportunity now to get our homework done to ensure
that, when it matters most, vaccine production can happen immediately,"
said Klaus Stohr, the leader of WHO's influenza activities, who chaired
the two-day, closed-door meeting that ended yesterday. "That's our
chance, and we don't want to miss that chance." [more]
