GENEVA / WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY

Speaking at the high-level consultation on pandemic influenza A(H1N1), WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan says obtaining reliable information on the different aspects of the influenza A(H1N1) infection is critical to make informed decisions on how to manage the outbreak and prepare for a possible global pandemic. WHO

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:26
• Production Date: 18 May 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: HEALTH; DISEASE PREVENTION; DISEASE CONTROL
• MAMS Id: U090518g

Description

STORY: GENEVA / WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
SOURCE: WHO
TRT: 1.26
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 18 MAY 2009, GENEVA/ FILE

Shotlist

RECENT, PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA

1. Wide shot, exterior Palais des Nations

18 MAY 2008, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, audience and podium
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization:
“The world of today is more vulnerable to the adverse effects of an influenza pandemic than it was in 1968, when the last pandemic of the previous century began. The speed and volume of international travel have increased to an astonishing degree. As we are seeing right now with H1N1 any city with an international airport is at risk of an imported case.”
4. Wide shot, audience
5. Med shot, reporters
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization:
“We have the revised international health regulations and we have tested and robust mechanisms like the Global Outbreak and Alert and Response Network. As I said, an influenza pandemic is an extreme expression of the need for global solidarity. We are all in this together and we will all get through this together.”
7. Wide shot, audience and podium

Storyline

In her address to the opening of the World Health Assembly, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) today (18 May) said that the prospect of the first influenza pandemic of this century is one of several crises the world is facing, along with the current financial turmoil and economic downturn.

The influenza A (H1N1) outbreak will be among the public health issues discussed at the Assembly, which began its week-long session today.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said that “the world of today is more vulnerable to the adverse effects of an influenza pandemic” than it was when the last pandemic struck over forty years ago. She noted the “astonishing” increase in international travel over the past few decades and said that “any city with an international airport is at risk of an imported case.”

Chan emphasized that the international community must look at everything that could be done to collectively protect developing countries from bearing the brunt of an influenza pandemic, she said.

She said that the world is better prepared today to combat a pandemic thanks to “revised international health regulations” and “tested and robust mechanisms” such as the Global Outbreak and Alert and Response Network.

As of today, 40 countries have officially reported 8,829 cases of the new flu strain, including 74 deaths. WHO’s pandemic alert level remains at Phase 5 – on a six-point warning scale – meaning that sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus on a community level is restricted to one of the agency’s geographic regions, in this case North America.

The World Health Assembly brings together officials from WHO’s 193 member countries for an annual review of the agency’s activities and to set new priorities for the future. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is currently in Geneva, will address the gathering tomorrow.

Also on its agenda this week are implementation of the International Health Regulations; primary health care, including health system strengthening; social determinants of health; and monitoring the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).