The World Health Organization has been accused recently, largely in Europe, of hyping the danger of H1N1 as a result of pressure from the pharmaceutical industry.
WHO has fired back.
In a statement released a few days ago, it explains that its work necessitates “global cooperation with a range of partners, including the private sector,” but that it “guard[s] against the influence of any improper interests”:
Numerous safeguards are in place to manage conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest among members of WHO advisory groups and expert committees. Expert advisers provide a signed declaration of interests to WHO detailing any professional or financial interest that could affect the impartiality of their advice.
(More details on the safeguards here.)
WHO’s Dr. Keiji Fukuda defended the Organization this week in front of the Council of Europe. He explained that WHO’s “influenza pandemic preparedness plan,” which “provide[s] recommended actions to be taken by countries and WHO depending on the real world situation” — a public document — was “based upon the collective input of public health and scientific experts from around the world.”
He also stressed that International Health Regulations assure an “orderly, rules-based framework for detecting, assessing, reporting, declaring and responding to public health emergencies,” and that they offer “a system of checks and balances to ensure that no one, including the WHO Director-General, has unfettered power when making decisions.”
Finally, Fukuda emphasized that H1N1 unquestionably meets the definition of a pandemic:
This current influenza pandemic is a scientifically well-documented event in which the emergence and spread of a new influenza virus has caused an unusual epidemiological pattern of disease throughout the world. This is not an arbitrary matter of word-smithing, definitions or polemics. The labelling of the pandemic as “fake” is to ignore recent history and science and to trivialize the deaths of over 14,000 people and the many additional serious illnesses experienced by others.
WHO enumerates elements of this “scientifically well-documented event”:
Lab analyses showed that this influenza virus was genetically and antigenically very different from other influenza viruses circulating among people Epidemiological information provided by Mexico, the US and Canada demonstrated person-to-person transmission. Clinical information, especially from Mexico, indicated this virus also could cause severe disease and death. At the time, those reports did not indicate a pandemic situation, but taken together sent a very strong warning to WHO and other public health authorities to be ready for one. As the pandemic evolved, clinicians identified a very severe form of primary viral pneumonia, which was rapidly progressive and frequently fatal, that is not part of the disease pattern seen during seasonal influenza. While these cases were relatively rare, they imposed a heavy burden on intensive care units. Geographical spread was exceptionally rapid.
WHO has also pointed out that it “has consistently assessed the impact of the current influenza pandemic as moderate.”