[Ip-health] PTI: Manufacturing capacity of H1N1 vaccine inadequate: WHO

[Malini Aisola]

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/manufacturing-capacityh1n1-vacc=
ine-inadequate-who/67756/on

Manufacturing capacity of H1N1 vaccine inadequate: WHO
Press Trust of India
New York July 15, 2009

The manufacturing capacity for the influenza vaccines is inadequate for
a world of 6.8 billion people, nearly all of whom are susceptible to
infection by the new H1N1 virus, a top official of the World Health
Organisation said today.

Addressing a Conference on Intellectual Property and Public Policy
Issues organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation in
Geneva, WHO Director General Margaret Chan said most of these limited
supplies would go to wealthy countries, apprehending that people in the
rest part of the world might not get access to the vaccine.

In her statement, Chan said the ideal vaccine would be one that protects
against seasonal influenza viruses as well as a range of candidate
pandemic viruses. Transcripts of her speech were made available at the
UN headquarters here.

WHO's Director-General encouraged the research and development sector,
as well as academics, to work on such an innovation =E2=80=94 calling this =
the
"best and most rational insurance policy for increasing supplies and
encouraging more equitable access"; the UN spokesman Michele Montas said
briefing UN reporters.

Noting that there is the need for innovation, Chan said: "This shortfall
in vaccine supplies, in the face of universal need, is the result of
limited global manufacturing capacity. It is not, in essence, a result
of intellectual property issues."

Observing the ability to pay, whether at the individual or the national
level, remains a distinct advantage, she added: "In the field of health,
public policy will remain imperfect as long as access to life-saving
interventions is biased in favor of affluence."

In this regard, Chan highlighted the resolution on public health,
innovation and intellectual property adopted by the World Health
Assembly in May that resulted in a global strategy and plan of action to
make health care products more accessible and affordable, especially in
the developing world.

"The agreement on a global strategy and plan of action demonstrates that
the forces that govern the development and pricing of medical products
can indeed be steered in directions that favour more equitable access to
medicines," she said.




--
Malini Aisola
Knowledge Ecology International
1621 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20009
malini.aisola@keionline.org|Tel: +1.202.332.2670|Fax: +1.202.332.2673