WHO Meeting Warns of Flu Pandemic

An influenza pandemic, when it arrives, will be an immediate threat to the health of nearly everyone on Earth, but very little is being done to prevent its potential devastation, say experts who met this week at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Switzerland.  A vaccine is unlikely to prevent the global spread of a pandemic strain of flu virus, but it could save millions of lives. To do so, the world must be ready to make, test, pay for, distribute and probably share what will be a scarce supply, the experts concluded.  "We have a unique window of opportunity now to get our homework done to ensure that, when it matters most, vaccine production can happen immediately," said Klaus Stohr, the leader of WHO's influenza activities, who chaired the two-day, closed-door meeting that ended yesterday. "That's our chance, and we don't want to miss that chance." [more]