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 we are concerned about and planning for,” UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said. The bulk of the planning focuses on either relief staff being affected by flu or the prospect of a pandemic infecting people already in need of aid. Mr Holmes noted that many were “crowded into camp situations and therefore particularly vulnerable” to the fast spreading virus. But Mr Holmes, the UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, also raised more serious concerns about disruption to health care, education, as well as food and water distribution in such strife-torn settings.
“There’s a wider concern that if a pandemic, for example the current H1N1 pandemic, spreads into a very poor and vulnerable country, and has a much more dramatic effect there than on the countries where it has been present so far, then we would have a major new humanitarian crisis on our hands,” he explained.
via Pandemic Information News: Swine flu could hit famine countries – UN.