A Response to the H1N1 Virus
A report on the UN/WHO Meeting
Yesterday, at a meeting in Geneva, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and WHO Director General Margaret Chan appealed to member states to support efforts to respond to the current H1N1 pandemic.
This meeting followed the discussions held at Wilton Park several weeks ago: GLOBAL PANDEMIC RESPONSE: IMPROVING INTERNATIONAL CO-ORDINATION.
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon emphasized the following points:
- We should not take the moderate severity of the current pandemic for granted;
- Commitment by governments is required, as is sustained support;
- While there has been excellent leadership by WHO’s DG Dr. Chan, more work is needed, especially that responds to the current lack of capacity of vulnerable countries facing multiple crises;
- $1 billion will be required through the end of the year to support efforts; this will be made a priority at the upcoming G8 summit. Resources will be required to ensure that the 49 least developed countries have access to vaccines and anti-virals.
WHO Director General Dr. Chan then made the following comments:
- Investment in preparedness is paying off; the world is generally responding calmly with countries kicking into place their response mechanisms.
- There is greater transparency with reporting now than ever before, with a reduction in the time lag from known cases to reporting.
- Gaps remain, particularly in developing countries, where weak health systems are going into this empty-handed: no antibiotics, anti-virals, vaccines or personal protective equipment.
- WHO is committed to supporting developing countries to procure commodities and will promote the principles of fairness, equity and solidarity.
Joy Phumaphi from the World Bank added that the Bank fully supports the call for a financed global work-plan to avert a potentially disastrous effect.
Participating member states included Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Canada, S Korea, all of whom pledged support. Several requests were made for further information that would enable countries to determine the scope and nature of that support.
