A debate is ongoing if Olympic Games should be cancelled, moved or delayed because of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern declared by WHO on 1st February 2016 on microcephaly in Brazil, which is being proven to be associated with Zika infection. On May 25th, 150 experts in bioethics, public health and social sciences signed an open letter to the WHO, asking to skip the Games, in order to avoid a further spread of the epidemic.
One of the main source of distrust towards public health authorities is the suspect of hidden connections with the pharmaceutical industry, but, in case of a severe pandemic, an adequate supply of antivirals and vaccines is essential. ASSET asked Norman Begg, GSK Vice President, Head of Scientific Affairs and Public Health, Vaccines, what kind of agreements exist for Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC) or of a pandemic, between big pharma and WHO. The answer for the two situations is not the same.
During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) developed an application that allowed people to share information on the spread of the contagion, which proved to be very useful to monitor the situation. Now that the Zika virus outbreak is raising concerns, would it be possible to use a similar approach? Some weeks ago, the experts of the CDC argued that developing an app to track the spread of Zika virus would not be as effective as it was with Ebola.
Declaring an emergency is a dirty work, but someone has to do it. When facing a serious threat to global public health, even if complete evidence is lacking, someone has to take the responsibility to push the red button that activates a chain of coordinated actions (such as cooperation among states and research on vaccines). Choosing to do this, the risk of giving a false alarm is unavoidable.
WHO. 2015 Dec 18. Pandemic influenza preparedness: sharing of influenza viruses and access to vaccines and other benefits - Report of the Special Session of the Pandemic Influenza. Preparedness Framework Advisory Group
Ministers and senior representatives of Member States in the European Region will meet to discuss the numerous public health challenges posed by large-scale movements of refugees and migrants to transit and destination countries. These range from management of communicable and noncommunicable diseases to the impact of large-scale migration on health systems. Given the inter-regional relevance of this topic, ministers from the main countries of origin and of transit of refugees and migrants – in the Eastern Mediterranean and African regions – are also invited.
The monographic issue of Vaccine, published in August 2015 under the title “WHO Recommendations Regarding Vaccine Hesitancy”, is a collection of materials produced by a group specifically dedicated to the topic in 2012, under the combined leadership of the WHO and UNICEF.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization Planning for uncertainty: a European approach to informing responses to the severity of influenza epidemics and pandemics
