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Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

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  • Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

    Source: http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Gl...&aid=200805159

    Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

    Thursday, May 15, 2008 11:20 AM

    JAKARTA (AP)-Indonesia's health minister says she will give all genetic information about her country's bird flu virus to a new global database.

    Experts say that will go a long way toward monitoring the disease that is threatening to spark a pandemic.

    Indonesia has been withholding bird flu virus samples and DNA sequencing data from the World Health Organization for more than a year. It says the global body's 50-year-old virus sharing system is unfair to developing countries.

    That has made it impossible for scientists to see if the virus was mutating to a more dangerous form.

    Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari says she decided to cooperate with the online databank that launched Thursday because it is fully transparent and protects intellectual property rights.

  • #2
    Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

    Does anyone know what this online data base is? Who is funding or supporting it?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

      Could it be this one?

      http://novel-infectious-diseases.blogspot.com/

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

        Originally posted by Laidback Al View Post
        Could it be this one?

        http://www.gisaid.org/
        I would assume so (its really just a power grab)

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

          yes, GISAID. It's mentioned here:







          > because it is fully transparent and protects intellectual property rights.

          it's not clear to me, whether/when the GISAID-data will be public or whether
          they are only available to some registered members. I've read about a 6-months delay
          earlier. Strange, how this subject is avoided
          I'm interested in expert panflu damage estimates
          my current links: http://bit.ly/hFI7H ILI-charts: http://bit.ly/CcRgT

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

            Indonesia's health minister said Thursday she would start sharing all genetic information about her country's bird flu virus with a new global database, to monitor whether the disease is mutating into a dangerous pandemic strain.

            <!-- It will play either video as first choice, or first image if there isn't an image --> China, Russia and other nations that have long withheld influenza virus samples and DNA sequencing data from international databases are also taking part in the initiative, saying it offers full transparency and, for the first time, basic protection of intellectual property rights.

            Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari became an unlikely hero in the bird flu fight when in January 2007 she decided to buck the WHO's 50-year-old virus sharing system, which obliged member countries to submit bird flu samples and data to the global body, saying it was unfair to developing countries.

            She was worried pharmaceutical companies would use Indonesia's virus strains to develop costly vaccines that would ultimately be inaccessible to her own people. Even the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, acknowledged she had a point.

            http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668640691&pagename=JPost%2FJPArt icle%2FShowFull

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

              The reason I asked was this part of the article: "..the online databank that launched Thursday.."

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

                Launching is not an easy thing to do:

                Indonesias Minister of Health Announces the Launch of GISAID Database


                Jakarta, Indonesia - March 28, 2007 - During a gathering of ministers of health from countries affected by avian influenza, following two days of high-level technical meetings hosted by the WHO on Responsible Practices for Sharing Avian Influenza Viruses, Indonesias Minister of Health, Dr. Siti Fadilah Supari today announced the launch of the GISAID Database.



                Apparently there are some guarantees now regarding the use of the information.


                ..
                ?Addressing chronic disease is an issue of human rights ? that must be our call to arms"
                Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief The Lancet

                ~~~~ Twitter:@GertvanderHoek ~~~ GertvanderHoek@gmail.com ~~~

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database



                  Indonesias Minister of Health Announces the Launch of GISAID Database
                  Jakarta, Indonesia - March 28, 2007

                  ...

                  Indonesias active support of GISAID, reinforces once more her leadership role in responsible sharing and the countrys ongoing commitment to global health", said Peter Bogner, Director of GISAID.


                  The GISAID Database will be publicly accessible and its use is free of charge. GISAID Database users will be required to register, agreeing to share and credit the use of others data, to analyze findings jointly, publish results collaboratively, and not to assert intellectual property rights against each other over technology derived from the data

                  -------------------------------------

                  no mentioning of genbank in the article

                  so, GISAID will be publically accessable ... if ...
                  * you register ,
                  (will they aprove me ?)
                  * you agree to share and credit the use of others data
                  (well, just include such a remark into the sequence itself)
                  * to analyze findings jointly
                  (??? not going to happen. How would you do it ? Publish your analyzing programs ?
                  ask the sequence-owner before you use it ? ...suppose you run your program on
                  thousands of sequences simultaneously... How could it ever be controlled ?)
                  * publish results collaboratively
                  (some will agree to the publishing in that intended form and some will disagree)
                  * not to assert intellectual property rights against each other over technology derived from the data
                  (assert = claim for ?
                  "right's" by which law ? technology can be derived from data ?
                  well, technology can maybe also derived from letters or numbers or weather data...)
                  I'm interested in expert panflu damage estimates
                  my current links: http://bit.ly/hFI7H ILI-charts: http://bit.ly/CcRgT

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

                    the question is, of course, could the sequences be posted here ?

                    Probably not, since FT-users didn't register to that agreement.

                    May the sequences be discussed, their properties and similarities
                    and risks mentioned and compared to other H5N1 ?
                    May reassortments be mentioned ?


                    Bogner:
                    > ...Indonesian leadership role in responsible sharing
                    I'm interested in expert panflu damage estimates
                    my current links: http://bit.ly/hFI7H ILI-charts: http://bit.ly/CcRgT

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

                      "The GISAID Database will be publicly accessible and its use is free of charge. GISAID Database users will be required to register, agreeing to share and credit the use of others data, ..."

                      When it was gived "all genetic information" by internet, maybe it's realy better to release it between members with true personal user register data (just in case).

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Indonesia agrees to give bird flu information to new online database

                        Indonesia to Share Information
                        On Bird Flu With Global Database


                        Associated Press
                        May 15, 2008 6:51 p.m.

                        <!-- The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -->

                        JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia announced Thursday it would start sharing all information about its bird flu cases with a new global database to monitor whether the disease is mutating into a dangerous pandemic strain.

                        Experts said participation by Indonesia, the country hardest hit by avian influenza, will be a great help following its yearlong boycott of the World Health Organization's virus-sharing system.

                        China, Russia and other nations that have withheld virus samples and genetic data from the international community are taking part in the new initiative as well, saying it offers transparency and, for the first time, basic protection of intellectual property rights.

                        With nearly half the 240 human deaths recorded world-wide, Indonesia is seen by many scientists as a potential hotspot for a pandemic. But its health minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, started withholding virus samples and data from the WHO in January 2007. She thought its virus-sharing system was unfair to poor nations, fearing pharmaceutical companies would make vaccines her people could not afford.

                        Health experts said she was endangering the planet, because there was no way of knowing if her country's virus was mutating.

                        "We have always promoted the sharing of influenza data, all we ask for is that it be done in a fair, transparent and equitable manner," Ms. Supari said Thursday, vowing to share the DNA bird flu data for her country's latest human cases immediately.

                        "I think it's wonderful," said Peter Palese, who studies influenza at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, adding the decision will make it easier for researchers to see if the virus is mutating to a form that spreads more easily between people, with the potential to kill millions world-wide.

                        The free online site launched on Thursday, 18 months after strategic adviser Peter Bogner and 77 influential scientists and health experts wrote a letter to Nature magazine calling for bird flu information to be shared more quickly and openly -- resulting in the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data, or GISAID.

                        Until then, research organizations often kept their own repositories of DNA sequencing data. In the case of bird flu, WHO was keeping crucial information in a private database in Los Alamos, New Mexico, making it accessible to just 15 laboratories. That revelation, made public by Italian veterinary researcher Ilaria Capua in early 2006, led some foreign governments and scientists to call for a boycott of WHO's 50-year-old virus sharing system.

                        "The reluctance by Indonesia, in particular, to share samples and genetic data was of particular concern," said Harold Varmus, a Nobel laureate and Nature letter signatory.
                        Late last year, the WHO acknowledged it needed to urgently address the international community's growing misgivings. But it maintains some genetic data should be kept behind closed doors. The global body is seeking $10 million for another database and tracking system.

                        Many countries are asking if that is necessary, especially following the launch of Thursday's online site, which was tailor-made by and for influenza scientists. They include members of WHO's four collaborating centers, who say full transparency will not hinder efforts to carry out their vaccine strain selection process.

                        "GISAID has a big head start already," noted Nirmal Ganguly, the former head of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

                        The new platform calls on users to reach an agreement with data providers before applying, for example, for patents needed for vaccines. In an effort to boost transparency, GISAID also has created an electronic tracking system that enables site users to see who has sent or received virus data -- from government laboratories to pharmaceutical companies.



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