March 1, 2007

Indonesia, WHO near resolving dispute over bird flu samples
 

Indonesia is expected to resume supplying samples of bird flu virus to the World Health Organization after receiving a guarantee they will not be used to develop a commercial vaccine it cannot afford, the health minister said Thursday.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said a letter of guarantee from WHO Director General Margaret Chan was expected to arrive Thursday, after which "Indonesia will resume sending as soon as possible."

"A guarantee signed by the director general is strong enough," Supari said.

The agreement will almost certainly resolve the stand off between WHO and Indonesia, which triggered a storm of criticism last month by withholding samples from the UN health body.

The country hardest hit by bird flu is worried that large drug companies will use its H5N1 strain to make vaccines that will be too expensive for developing nations in the event of a global pandemic that could kill millions.

Several countries are developing vaccines to protect against H5N1, the strain of bird flu responsible for 166 human deaths worldwide, more than one-third of them in Indonesia. The virus remains essentially an animal disease, but experts fear it may mutate into a form easily spreadable between humans.