WHO puts off giving advice on pandemic vaccines

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-27 11:08

For now, he said the WHO was keeping its alert at Phase 5 which means a pandemic is "imminent." It will look for "large outbreaks with very large numbers of people" like those seen in Mexico or the United States before edging it to the top notch.

"That in and of itself could well be enough to take us up to pandemic Phase 6," he said.

Britain and other flu-affected countries pushed at the WHO's annual congress last week for a rethinking of the pandemic alert scale, given the mild effects experienced from H1N1 flu as it spread around the world.

Fukuda said top WHO officials agreed there were risks in moving too fast to the top level.

"If you go to declare Phase 6 without very clear evidence that there is a change in the global situation, it can lead to extra work for countries without much gain, it can lead to some level of panic, it can lead to some level of cynicism," he said.

Fukuda said the widespread awareness about the H1N1 flu and countries' efforts to prepare themselves for possible outbreaks was "more important than any definition."

"We are comfortable that the countries are doing the kinds of public health actions that need to be taken right now," he said.

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