Post by Paddy by Grace on Apr 26, 2009 11:41:15 GMT -7
www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLQ57742720090426
GENEVA, April 26 (Reuters) - The world is better prepared than ever to withstand a potential flu pandemic after five years of gearing up for bird flu, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Sunday.
"I believe that the world is much, much better prepared than we have ever been for dealing with this kind of situation," Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO director-general for health security and environment, told a teleconference on the current outbreaks of swine flu in Mexico and the United States.
"The past five years have put us in (the) best possible position to handle this kind of situation," he said.
Fukuda said that the WHO and its partners had started preliminary work to prepare a vaccine against swine flu if needed. (Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
GENEVA, April 26 (Reuters) - The world is better prepared than ever to withstand a potential flu pandemic after five years of gearing up for bird flu, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Sunday.
"I believe that the world is much, much better prepared than we have ever been for dealing with this kind of situation," Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO director-general for health security and environment, told a teleconference on the current outbreaks of swine flu in Mexico and the United States.
"The past five years have put us in (the) best possible position to handle this kind of situation," he said.
Fukuda said that the WHO and its partners had started preliminary work to prepare a vaccine against swine flu if needed. (Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)