Not enough vaccine for world’s 6.8 billion people
Dr. Chan, not enough vaccine.
New York – The manufacturing capacity for influenza vaccines is “woefully” inadequate for a world of 6.8 billion people, all of whom are susceptible to Swine Flu infection.
“Manufacturing capacity for influenza vaccines is finite and woefully inadequate for a world of 6.8 billion people, nearly all of whom are susceptible to infection by this entirely new and highly contagious virus,” said World Health Organization chief Dr. Margaret Chan.
Chan also fears the lion’s share of any vaccine supply will go to the world’s richest nations and people, short-changing poorer nations and people.
Chan said the announcement by the World Health Organization last month that the A(H1N1) influenza outbreak had officially reached global pandemic levels had triggered a surge of interest in pandemic vaccines and a scramble to place orders.
The agency’s advisory group on immunization, which met last week, reviewed the current pandemic situation, the status of seasonal vaccine production and potential A(H1N1) vaccine production capacity.
Recognizing that the pandemic is unstoppable, the group said all countries will need to have access to vaccines.
“The lion’s share of these limited supplies will go to wealthy countries. Again we see the advantage of affluence. Again we see access denied by an inability to pay,” she said.
“But we also see the need for innovation,” she added. “This shortfall in vaccine supplies, in the face of universal need, is the result of limited global manufacturing capacity. It is not, in essence, a result of intellectual property issues.”
The Director-General said that the ideal vaccine would be one that protects against seasonal influenza viruses as well as a range of candidate pandemic viruses.
She encouraged the research and development sector as well as academics to work on such an innovation – calling this the “best and most rational insurance policy for increasing supplies and encouraging more equitable access.”
She also noted that the ability to pay, whether at the individual or the national level, remains a distinct advantage. “In the field of health, public policy will remain imperfect as long as access to life-saving interventions is biased in favour of affluence.”
Related articles:
Posted by News Editor
on Jul 15 2009. Filed under Swine Flu.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
