The issue of expanding the production of avian influenza vaccines and medications dominated the agenda at the Health Ministers’ Conference in Ottawa, Canada, held on October 24 and 25. The host representative, Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, suggested that “there are countries capable of producing vaccines; we need to support them in technology transfer.”
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Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh |
Previously, Indian authorities expressed concerns about whether the risk of avian influenza was significant enough to warrant lifting Roche’s patent on the production of Tamiflu. Several ministers recalled the WTO’s 2003 decision that allowed governments to overlook patent issues in cases where public health was at risk.
During the conference, representatives discussed a proposal from Mexico suggesting that wealthy countries should allocate 10% of their Tamiflu and other flu medication stockpiles to poorer nations. Some countries argued that 5% would be more realistic given the actual situation.
Taiwan announced that it would manufacture a Tamiflu generic if Roche refused to grant a production license and if a significant outbreak occurred on the island. Taiwan reported that two facilities had successfully produced 20 grams of Tamiflu within a month, and these facilities are considering large-scale production. The conference appointed the World Health Organization (WHO) as the “leader” to prepare for a potential human pandemic, while the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) would lead the efforts in the animal sector.
Regarding the avian influenza situation, the European Union recently imposed a one-month ban on the import of pet birds. China reported its seventh outbreak of the year, which was also the third outbreak in a week, with the latest incident in Hunan resulting in the death of 550 chickens and the culling of 2,500 other poultry. Taiwan declared this a “critical time” in disease prevention efforts and stated it was prepared to spend $1.5 billion in the event of an outbreak.
The European Union confirmed that the H5N1 avian influenza virus had been detected in dead wild swans in Croatia last week. Meanwhile, officials on the French island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean reported suspicions of a tourist infected with avian influenza. This individual showed symptoms of coughing and fatigue after returning from Thailand recently.
THUY TUNG (According to JP, BKP, TST, Bloomberg, AP)
