Influenza Pandemic a Brewing Storm, WHO Director-General Says
Washington, D.C., September 27, 2005 (PAHO)—"There will be another influenza pandemic" and no government can afford to be caught off guard, according to World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook.
Purple Death: The Great Flu of 1918 (Perspectives in Health Magazine)
Please visit the 46th Directing Council Photo Gallery
Click here for the full agenda and all documents of the meeting.
"There is a storm brewing that will test us all. We must anticipate it and prepare to the very best of our combined ability," Dr. Lee told ministers of health from throughout the Americas at the Pan American Health Organization's 46th Directing Council meeting here today.
"Forecasts indicate that the political, social and economic costs of such a pandemic will be huge. I cannot emphasize this enough. Failure to take this threat seriously and prepare appropriately will have catastrophic consequences," Dr. Lee said.
He called on health ministers to support the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza launched recently by President George W. Bush at the United Nations General Assembly. "This initiative needs full international cooperation if it is to fulfill its aims. I ask you all to sign up and give it your active support," he said.
"This is a critical moment for you, the health leaders in your countries, to interact decisively with your counterparts in agriculture, finance, education and industry, to share information and plan strategically. Your ability to do this will be vital," Dr. Lee said.
"Every country must have a national pandemic control plan. Every country must also have a communications strategy. It should be ready and able to inform the public about the pandemic, what is happening and what to do," he said.
"Massive international collaboration is now needed on the advance preparation of global antiviral stockpiles and pandemic vaccine development," Dr. Lee said, noting that "influenza is already an important public health priority in this region [of the Americas]. Your provision of immunization to high-risk populations in 13 countries indicates the attention this epidemic is already getting."
Citing past flu pandemics that killed millions of people, Dr. Lee noted that the 1957 and 1968 flu pandemics "originated as avian flu viruses. It is also likely that the next flu pandemic will emerge from one of the countries that has avian flu infection in its bird populations. Highly pathogenic H5N1 virus is now entrenched in several parts of Asia and is moving further afield, to Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation."
"The few human cases of avian flu that have occurred so far are where viral concentrations are high, where there is close personal contact with poultry, and where farming practices are not hygienic," Dr. Lee said. The countries where this situation is occurring already "will need international political and financial support to take the drastic steps needed, such as to cull and compensate. Poor farmers will need incentives to sacrifice their means of livelihood."
Dr. Lee also said countries need to identify "fair and sustainable financing for health systems and make them affordable to the poor, who need them most," and called for coordinated efforts to reduce maternal mortality and childhood mortality by 2015.
He added: "We have an obligation to manage the resources entrusted to us with the greatest integrity and transparency. This is especially important when the level of resources being allocated to countries and regions is being so substantially increased. These are the fundamental bases on which we build our credibility as leaders in public health."
Turning to immunization, Dr. Lee praised Vaccination Week in the Americas for its efforts to target children in poor, marginalized areas, saying, "This targeted activity to reach the undererved is a vital step to make sure that health care goes to those who are most in need."
"Huge challenges still remain, with pneumococcal disease still killing more children than HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Without a sustainable solution to the unaffordability of vaccines, the poor continue to be unprotected against rotavirus and pneumococcal disease," and cervical cancer continues to take a heavy toll in the region, despite the availability of a human papilloma virus vaccine, Dr. Lee added.
PAHO's Directing Council meeting continues through Friday.
For more information please contact , PAHO, Public Information, 202-974-3459.