UN / INFLUENZA

Senior UN System Influenza Coordinator David Nabarro briefs on the upcoming International Ministerial Conference on Animal and Pandemic Influenza in Hanoi and speaks about the lessons learned from last year's outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus. UNTV / FILE

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:41
• Production Date: 14 April 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION - PAHO
• Subject Topical: DISEASE PREVENTION; DISEASE CONTROL; DISEASES
• MAMS Id: U100414b

Description

STORY: UN / INFLUENZA
TRT: 2.41
SOURCE: UNTV/ PAHO/ FLEISHMAN – HILLARD HANDOUT
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 14 APRIL 2010, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior UN building

14 APRIL 2010, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, dais
3. Wide shot, audience
4. SOUNDBITE (English) David Nabarro, Senior UN System Influenza Coordinator:
“Since the beginning of the century we’ve had SARS, H5N1 bird flu, and this H1N1 pandemic, and we’ve also got diseases like Ebola and Rift Valley fever and so on. Are we well enough organized as a world to be prepared for diseases that can jump from the animal kingdom and lead to sickness and possibly quite widespread suffering among humans?”
5. Med shot, reporter
6. SOUNDBITE (English) David Nabarro, Senior UN System Influenza Coordinator:
“The pandemic started in April and we were in a situation – all of us – where we had limited information on the epidemiology and we could not, at any time, make any absolutely confident predictions about which way it was going to go. We used to say to ourselves, if we are lucky it will go mild; if we are unlucky, it will transform, become severe and lead to widespread and high rates of death.”
7. Med shot, reporters
8. SOUNDBITE (English) David Nabarro, Senior UN System Influenza Coordinator:
“We are relieved that this pandemic was not a severe, multiple killing event. However, it’s still going on, it’s still affecting communities, particularly in Africa and we don’t know, we never will know until it ends, whether it is suddenly going to turn bad.”
9. Med shot, reporters
10. SOUNDBITE (English) David Nabarro, Senior UN System Influenza Coordinator:
“It became clear to us when I was there that we have to interact with companies. Because we need to be working with them to help them get involved in new markets in developing countries, which perhaps not the markets they would normally use. We have to encourage them to take commercial risks greater than they would normally take.”

FILE – PAHO - 11, 12 MAY 2009, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

11. Med shot, doctor doing a swab test on a patient
12. Various shot, doctor handling sample

13. FILE – FLEISHMAN – HILLARD HANDOUT – 2005

14. Various shots, production of antiviral drug Tamiflu

Storyline

While there has been substantial global progress towards pandemic preparedness in recent years, it is vital to maintain that momentum to respond effectively to existing and possible future threats, according to a new study by the United Nations and the World Bank.

The report, entitled “Animal and pandemic influenza: a framework for sustaining momentum” notes that an estimated 75 per cent of new human diseases originate in animals and an average of two new animal diseases with cross-over capabilities emerge every year.

David Nabarro, Senior UN System Influenza Coordinator, speaking to reporters in New York, pointed out that in recent SARS, H5N1 avian influenza and H1N1 pandemic influenza have emerged, and questioned whether we are "well enough organized as a world to be prepared for diseases that can jump from the animal kingdom and lead to sickness and possibly quite widespread suffering among humans.”

The report will be taken up by delegates from over 80 countries when they meet at the International Ministerial Conference on Animal and Pandemic Influenza, which will be held in Hanoi, Viet Nam, from 20 to 21 April.

Nabarro said that when the H1N1 pandemic started last April experts “had limited information on the epidemiology” and could not “make any absolutely confident predictions about which way it was going to go”, with the looming possibility of it becoming severe and leading to “widespread and high rates of death.”

The threats from bird flu and H1N1 are not over yet, he noted, stressing that “we never will know until it ends, whether it is suddenly going to turn bad.”

Responding to questions about undue influence from pharmaceutical companies on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) response to the pandemic, Nabarro pointed out that he no longer works for WHO and cannot respond for them, but said that “it became clear” during his tenure in the organization, that it was necessary to “interact with companies” in order to “help them get involved in new markets in developing countries” and encourage them “to take commercial risks greater than they would normally take.”

The Hanoi conference will also review the global response to the current H1N1 influenza pandemic and the state of global pandemic preparedness. It will propose areas for future attention to further enhance the world’s collective capacity to respond quickly to significant health events.