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WHO action plan for pandemic flu vaccine aims to build surge capacity

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  • WHO action plan for pandemic flu vaccine aims to build surge capacity

    WHO action plan for pandemic flu vaccine aims to build surge capacity


    18:07:39 EDT Oct 23, 2006

    Canadian Press: HELEN BRANSWELL

    (CP) - Building surge capacity for influenza vaccine production in developing countries could be a key component of helping the world meet the need for vaccine when the next flu pandemic strikes, the World Health Organization suggested Monday. <!-- CPPara1End--> <!--updated p--> <!--updated para--> <!-- CPPara2-->The Geneva-based agency released a pandemic flu vaccine action plan designed to start to close the wide gap between how much vaccine the world will need and what it can actually produce.
    <!-- CPPara2End--> <!--updated p--> <!--updated para--> <!-- CPPara3-->Helping vaccine manufacturers in developing countries acquire the ability to switch over to make influenza vaccine in an emergency is part of the answer, WHO officials suggested as they made public the plan.
    <!-- CPPara3End--> <!--start of p-->The U.S. government revealed Monday it will provide US$10 million in seed money to start helping vaccine companies in the developing world make necessary adaptations to their operations.
    <!--start of p-->"They need to establish the capacity and to have the capacity maintained. This being said, it doesn't mean they would have to produce all year round influenza vaccine," Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, director of the WHO's initiative for vaccine research, said from Geneva.
    <!--start of p-->She said by year end WHO expects to use the U.S. funding to issue four awards to vaccine companies in developing countries. The money would be used to help them purchase equipment and make pilot lots of vaccine for testing and licensing.
    <!--start of p-->Kieny said the companies would have to commit to make a pre-set number of flu vaccine doses on an annual basis to sustain the capacity to do that work. That vaccine could be used in-country or sold within the region.
    <!--start of p-->"And for the rest of the time they would be allowed to produce other vaccines for their own internal consumption."
    <!--start of p-->Canada also announced it will give the WHO C$1 million to help it administer the action plan, which aims not just at increasing capacity but at spurring research into better flu vaccines and finding ways to minimize the size of the dose needed to provide protection.
    <!--start of p-->"We are greatly supportive of this initiative," said Dr. Arlene King, director general of pandemic preparedness with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
    <!--start of p-->And Japan has promised UNICEF US$20 million for the vaccine initiative; how the money will be spent is still being worked out.
    <!--start of p-->These sums, though, are drops in the bucket of what the WHO estimates it would take to get global influenza vaccine production capacity to the point where it could conceivably protect the bulk of the world's people when a pandemic next emerges.
    <!--start of p-->The action plan sets that figure at US$3 billion to US$10 billion. The idea of setting up surge capacity in developing countries is part of a three-pronged approach outlined in the plan.
    <!--start of p-->Increasing the market for seasonal flu shots - thereby enticing manufacturers to increase their output - is another. The last is research to develop better vaccines.
    <!--start of p-->Dr. Keiji Fukuda, co-ordinator of the WHO's global influenza program, said most or all of the world would want access to flu vaccine in the event of a pandemic.
    <!--start of p-->"So we see the shortfall staring us in the face. A shortfall that will take several years to address."
    <!--start of p-->Going full tilt, the world's flu vaccine manufacturers combined could make enough vaccine in a year to vaccinate 750 million people - if all went well and if a dose requires a modest amount of vaccine.
    <!--start of p-->In the face of a severe pandemic, health authorities would want to vaccinate as many of the world's 6.7 billion people as possible. Two shots per person - a primer and a booster - would be needed, or 13.4 billion doses of vaccine.


    <center>? The Canadian Press, 2006</center>

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