Indonesia shares flu virus samples as crisis persists
This article was originally published in Clinica
Indonesia is again supplying the World Health Organization's network of collaborating centres with samples of H5N1 avian flu virus it had withheld since last August, the WHO has confirmed to the UK media.
Only last week, the WHO reaffirmed an agreement on the part of all member states to ensure that the healthcare-related and commercial benefits of sharing virus samples would be reciprocated with developing countries (see Clinica No 1295, p 15). According to The Guardian newspaper, however, the February 22 move was triggered by president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's reaction to accusations by health minister Siti Fadilah Supari that the US was misusing virus samples.
In May 2007, the WHO had announced that, despite the ongoing friction surrounding the issue, it had reached an agreement to resume virus sharing, while also enabling Indonesia to perform its own confirmatory testing (see Clinica No 1251, p 13). Indonesia had sought a legally-binding agreement by which samples could only be used for diagnostic and monitoring purposes.
Indonesia has a globally important role in monitoring avian flu, given the high incidence of the disease in poultry and the high number of human cases, thereby increasing the chances of a dangerous mutation.