From the category archives:

Swine Flu & Justice

Poorer countries to get donated H1N1 vaccines

The World Health Organisation plans to start sending H1N1 flu vaccines to poorer countries as early as next month, the United Nations agency’s head of vaccine research said on Monday.  Marie-Paule Kieny said about 100 low- and middle-income nations would receive the vaccines donated by companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi , as well [...]

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Dutch MPs want to give surplus flu vaccine to WHO

A majority in the Dutch lower house wants Health Minister Ab Klink to donate A(H1N1) vaccine to the World Health Organisation.
Two of the government coalition parties, Labour and the Christian Union, as well as the opposition Socialist Party and Green Left told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that Mr Klink should act immediately to enable the WHO [...]

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Protecting uninsured against swine flu

Gov. Jon Corzine announced a plan yesterday to immunize all uninsured New Jersey residents against swine flu — and possibly to waive the cost for those with insurance — as health officials get ready for the influenza season. “There has been a tremendous amount of planning and preparation so that we can respond to any [...]

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Why the poor will suffer more with Swine Flu

From an excellent piece in the NEJM, by Dr. Nicole Lurie, that nicely links healthcare reform, infection prevention and the public health:
“Early detection of a new infectious disease—and potentially the survival of those who are infected—requires that sick people have access to the health care system and receive early treatment. Delays in seeking care can [...]

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HIV/AIDS carnage could follow African flu epidemic

With HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, and a host of other diseases competing for attention, influenza has never been high on most African countries’ priority lists, and getting a handle on the spread of influenza viruses in Africa has long been problematic because laboratories and surveillance have been lacking. But a 2002 outbreak in Madagascar and a [...]

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U.S. plan to use vaccine without additives may cause world shortages

July 31 (Bloomberg) — A U.S. plan to rely on swine flu vaccines without ingredients to boost effectiveness would reduce the global supply just when other countries need it most, according to an editorial by the British journal Lancet.
The ingredients, called adjuvants, have never been approved for flu vaccines in the U.S. and are controversial [...]

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Developing countries face unprecedented flu crisis

Developing countries face unique difficulties in preparing for an influenza pandemic. Our current top-down approach will not provide these countries with adequate supplies of vaccines and antiviral agents. Consequently, they will have to use a bottom-up approach based on inexpensive generic agents that either modify the host response to influenza virus or act as antiviral [...]

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Swine flu could devestate famine countries

Some may wonder where the figure of 300 million dead that some are quoting might come from. The story below suggest one factor.
THE United Nations has raised the prospect that the swine flu pandemic could hit countries undermined by poverty, conflicts or famine and trigger a “major” new crisis in those areas. “This is something [...]

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US choices on vaccine could harm world poor

Some of the blame for the growth of novel H1N1 could be laid at the door of the agricultural policies of the rich countries of the West, The disease then released kills the poor but the rich protect their own……..
Imminent decisions on a strategy for H1N1 pandemic flu vaccination in the United States could leave [...]

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Roche gives poor countries easier access to swine flu drug Tamiflu

Pharmaceutical maker Roche Holding AG said Wednesday a new initiative will ensure that poor countries get its antiviral drug against swine flu at a lower price. Under the Tamiflu Reserves Program, Roche will produce and ship the drug to developing countries upon order at a “significantly reduced price,” it said. A treatment of Tamiflu for [...]

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