Posted: 17 May 2009 1123 hrs
A doctor shows a mucus sample and the reactive strip employed to detect the influenza A(H1N1) virus
GENEVA: The World Health Organisation's annual assembly beginning on Monday is set to be dominated by the alarm over the swine flu outbreak that has brought the world to the brink of an influenza pandemic.
The outbreak of the new A(H1N1) flu virus that has swept into 38 countries in the space of three weeks is likely to sideline discussions by the 193 member states on tuberculosis, viral hepatitis or human organ transplants.
Those issues could be dropped if a committee on Monday endorses the WHO's proposal to shorten the gathering to five days instead of 10 in order to minimise the time senior health officials spend away from their countries.
The UN health agency said they were needed back home to coordinate national efforts against the outbreak of influenza A(H1N1).
Since it was brought to world attention in Mexico and the United States less than a month ago, the new swine flu virus has infected nearly 8,500 people, according to WHO, and spread beyond North America with travellers.
The WHO raised the global pandemic flu alert to level five on April 29, one step away from outright pandemic or sustained spread of the disease on more than one continent.
Top officials said Friday that research suggests that the virus is so contagious that it will probably spread to new, so far unaffected, regions.
Acting WHO Assistant Director-General Keiji Fukuda also said studies indicated that a "significant number of people" had been infected but those were undetected or unconfirmed by laboratory tests.
Hours of debate in the annual meeting are expected to be devoted to influenza and pandemic preparations, a regular topic in recent years after H5N1 bird flu took hold in humans.
At a weekend meeting in Geneva ahead of the assembly world governments failed to reach a final deal on the sharing of virus research material and vaccines in case of a global flu pandemic.
The WHO is holding talks with scientists and vaccine makers about triggering large scale pandemic vaccine production and whether to halt seasonal flu production in order to free up production capacity.
Experts have also expressed concern about possible mutation of the A(H1N1) virus that could make it more resistant to antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza, which have been stockpiled by countries to treat severe flu.
"Scientists are concerned about possible changes that could take place as the virus spreads to the southern hemisphere and encounters currently circulating human viruses, as the normal influenza season in this hemisphere begins," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said Friday.
Coincidentally, the assembly is also due to examine the implementation of International Health Regulations, which since 2005 oblige countries such as Mexico to swiftly raise the alarm about potential international health threats.
Mexico's ambassador to the UN agencies in Geneva, Luis Alfonso de Alba, recently said the assembly should also debate what measures were justified in dealing with outbreaks of disease.
Relations between Mexico and China were strained following Beijing's decision to suspend flights from Mexico at the height of the crisis.
"Nobody intends to limit the sovereignty of a state, but at the same time we need to be certain that there is a common understanding on what are justifiable measures," said de Alba.
"It's not a question on what kind of measure, whether to have a quarantine or to take other specific action. It is also how it is done, the way it is done."
Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova has also raised the issue of economic compensation.
"There are grounds to apply for compensation... for the country that has been hardest-hit" by the virus, Cordova said, explaining that if Mexico had not sounded the alert, the impact on health and economy in countries later hit by the virus would have been "enormous".
The WHO's US$4.54 billion biennial budget proposal for 2010-2011 is also due to be submitted to the assembly.
- AFP/yb
The outbreak of the new A(H1N1) flu virus that has swept into 38 countries in the space of three weeks is likely to sideline discussions by the 193 member states on tuberculosis, viral hepatitis or human organ transplants.
Those issues could be dropped if a committee on Monday endorses the WHO's proposal to shorten the gathering to five days instead of 10 in order to minimise the time senior health officials spend away from their countries.
The UN health agency said they were needed back home to coordinate national efforts against the outbreak of influenza A(H1N1).
Since it was brought to world attention in Mexico and the United States less than a month ago, the new swine flu virus has infected nearly 8,500 people, according to WHO, and spread beyond North America with travellers.
The WHO raised the global pandemic flu alert to level five on April 29, one step away from outright pandemic or sustained spread of the disease on more than one continent.
Top officials said Friday that research suggests that the virus is so contagious that it will probably spread to new, so far unaffected, regions.
Acting WHO Assistant Director-General Keiji Fukuda also said studies indicated that a "significant number of people" had been infected but those were undetected or unconfirmed by laboratory tests.
Hours of debate in the annual meeting are expected to be devoted to influenza and pandemic preparations, a regular topic in recent years after H5N1 bird flu took hold in humans.
At a weekend meeting in Geneva ahead of the assembly world governments failed to reach a final deal on the sharing of virus research material and vaccines in case of a global flu pandemic.
The WHO is holding talks with scientists and vaccine makers about triggering large scale pandemic vaccine production and whether to halt seasonal flu production in order to free up production capacity.
Experts have also expressed concern about possible mutation of the A(H1N1) virus that could make it more resistant to antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza, which have been stockpiled by countries to treat severe flu.
"Scientists are concerned about possible changes that could take place as the virus spreads to the southern hemisphere and encounters currently circulating human viruses, as the normal influenza season in this hemisphere begins," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said Friday.
Coincidentally, the assembly is also due to examine the implementation of International Health Regulations, which since 2005 oblige countries such as Mexico to swiftly raise the alarm about potential international health threats.
Mexico's ambassador to the UN agencies in Geneva, Luis Alfonso de Alba, recently said the assembly should also debate what measures were justified in dealing with outbreaks of disease.
Relations between Mexico and China were strained following Beijing's decision to suspend flights from Mexico at the height of the crisis.
"Nobody intends to limit the sovereignty of a state, but at the same time we need to be certain that there is a common understanding on what are justifiable measures," said de Alba.
"It's not a question on what kind of measure, whether to have a quarantine or to take other specific action. It is also how it is done, the way it is done."
Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova has also raised the issue of economic compensation.
"There are grounds to apply for compensation... for the country that has been hardest-hit" by the virus, Cordova said, explaining that if Mexico had not sounded the alert, the impact on health and economy in countries later hit by the virus would have been "enormous".
The WHO's US$4.54 billion biennial budget proposal for 2010-2011 is also due to be submitted to the assembly.
- AFP/yb
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
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