U.S. EMBASSY
OFFICIAL TEXT
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PUBLIC AFFAIRS
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March 26, 2007
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Press Secretary
Statement by Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt
on the WHO Global Pandemic Influenza Action Plan
to Increase Vaccine Supply
Bahasa
Indonesia
The World Health Organization (WHO) deserves continued support and
commendation for its leadership in guiding the global effort to prepare
for and respond to a potential human influenza pandemic.
The current global capacity to produce a vaccine to respond to an
influenza pandemic is insufficient to meet the global need, especially
in developing countries. The recently published WHO Global
Pandemic-Influenza Action Plan to Increase Vaccine Supply provides a
strong foundation to increase the availability of seasonal and pandemic
influenza vaccine around the world, but its implementation must be
accelerated.
The United States strongly supports the efforts of the WHO to address
this critical gap.
In that spirit, the United States has provided $10 million to the WHO to
expand the development and manufacturing infrastructure for influenza
vaccine in developing countries. In addition, our nation has been making
significant investments in vaccine research and in expanding production
capacity, including $1 billion in cell-based vaccine research efforts.
These investments will likely benefit not only citizens of the United
States , but also citizens of the world.
Efforts to increase the availability of influenza vaccines in
developing countries, however, should not compromise the integrity of
the 50-year-old WHO Global Influenza-Surveillance Network, which
provides early warning of evolving influenza virus strains, both
seasonal and those with pandemic potential. All nations have a
responsibility to share data and virus samples. The United States looks
forward to discussing creative options with stakeholders in the coming
weeks to accelerate implementation of the WHO Plan in the quickest and
most effective manner and in ways that provide countries with the
flexibility they need.
Responding to a pandemic will demand the cooperation of the world
community, as no nation can go it alone. If a country is to protect its
own people, it must work together with other nations to protect the
people of the world. For more information:
http://www.hhs.gov/news
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