February 15, 2007

 

Indonesia to resume sharing bird flu samples if rules change
 

 

Indonesia defended its decision to stop sharing bird flu samples with the World Health Organization, saying it would resume cooperation only when the agency stopped providing the strains to commercial vaccine makers.

 

The country worst hit by bird flu triggered a storm of criticism last week when it signed a memorandum of understanding with US drug manufacturer Baxter Healthcare Corp. to develop a human bird flu vaccine.

 

Under the agreement, Indonesia will provide H5N1 virus samples in exchange for Baxter's expertise in vaccine production. Other organisations, including the WHO, would only have access to Indonesian samples provided they agree not to pass them on to commercial vaccine makers.

 

Dr Triono Soendoro, the head of Indonesia's National Institute for Health Research and Development, said the move was designed to ensure the country's 220 million people received access to a vaccine in the event of a human pandemic.

 

"We made the deal so we do not have to purchase the vaccines at market price," he said in an interview on Wednesday with The Associated Press.

 

The decision was a major departure from the WHO's existing virus-sharing system, where bird flu viruses are freely shared with the global community for public health purposes, including vaccine and antiviral development.

 

Some experts said they sympathised with Indonesia, but nevertheless warned the move could jeopardise the world's access to a pandemic vaccine, if Indonesia became the epicenter of a global outbreak - a scenario many people feel is likely.

 

"We feel we have been treated unfairly by the system, the system needs to be revised," Soendoro said.

 

WHO officials have said the agency plans talks with Indonesia and vaccine makers to find a solution to the standoff.

 

Soendoro said the WHO could have access to bird flu strains if the agency signed an agreement that it would not pass them on to commercial vaccine makers.

 

"We maintain that the virus sharing mechanism has been misused for commercial purposes," said Soendoro. "Why is there hesitation in signing such an agreement?"

 

Other countries, including China, Thailand and Vietnam, have previously stalled on sharing viruses. Like Indonesia, they fear the vaccines and drugs produced from their viruses would ultimately be unaffordable for them, leaving their populations dangerously vulnerable - while rich countries add to their stockpiles.

 

Several countries are developing vaccines to protect against H5N1, the strain of bird flu responsible for at least 166 human deaths around the world, about a third of them in Indonesia.

 

The virus remains essentially an animal disease, but experts fear it may mutate into a form that easily spreads between humans and trigger a global pandemic, possibly killing millions.

 

The vaccines currently under production may offer some protection against any pandemic strain, but there is no guarantee. Experts say it could take six months before they could be adjusted to provide full protection if there is a pandemic.