Nov. 3, 2005 – A panel of public health and policy experts assembled by a public-interest advocacy group is calling on the federal government to sidestep the pharmaceutical industry in preparing for a possible avian flu outbreak. The five experts joined Tuesday to warn that healthcare costs associated with a pandemic would be prohibitive both here and abroad.
In statements released by the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA), an eight-year-old progressive public-interest organization, the international health policy experts applauded US efforts to develop a plan to deal with an avian flu outbreak but said permitting drug companies to control flu vaccines and other medications presents a dangerous situation for the US and the world.
A handful of drug companies hold government licenses to produce or develop vaccines and treatments to address the deadly H5N1 flu scientists could soon spread among humans. Those firms include the Swiss company Roche and the French company Sanofi-Aventis, according to CNN. GlaxoSmithKline, which is also working on a vaccine, intends have an antiviral drug that would lessen flu symptoms ready early next year.
But Robert Weissman, co-director of the activist organization Essential Action, fears that permitting for-profit drug companies to control flu vaccines is prohibitively expensive and threatens the nation?s supply.
"President Bush has belatedly announced a program to expand modestly the US stockpile of antivirals that may be useful against an avian flu pandemic," said Weissman in a statement released by IPA. "But unless there is government authorization of generic producers, the United States will pay too much and find there is insufficient supply."
Weissman also warned that "permitting Roche to maintain monopoly control over the global supply of Tamiflu will leave the developing countries, where an avian flu outbreak is most likely, with virtually no prospect of building up World Health Organization-recommended stockpiles."
Weissman?s calls were joined Global AIDS Alliance Director Paul Zeiz, Concordia University political science professor Peter Stoett, Consumer Project on Technology Director James Love, and Health GAP?s Brook Baker in demanding that generic avian-flu vaccines be licensed. All five contend that offers from drug companies to extend licenses to generic drug manufacturers fail to address the problem effectively. They also urged that the US work to build healthcare capacity in nations when an epidemic is likely to break out in order to improve chances of stopping the spread of the virus.
The cautions came as President Bush outlined a national plan in case of a pandemic. Congress has taken up the issue, and the White House and Centers on Disease Control have released reports on the nation?s ability to deal with an outbreak of the deadly virus. According to government projections, a mutated, human-transmissible strain of the avian flu could kill 200,000 to 1.9 million Americans and cost $181 billion or more.
On Tuesday, Bush asked Congress to dedicate $7.1 billion to deal with a possible outbreak. A large portion of the money would go toward developing 20 million doses of vaccine, which would be stockpiled by the CDC.
International health officials estimate that an avian flu pandemic could kill 50 or 60 million people worldwide, the International Herald Tribune reported.
