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Ban says private sector needed on swine flu (Extra)
May 19, 2009, 13:12 GMT
Geneva - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that cooperation was needed with the private sector on solutions for the new influenza A(H1N1).
Ban was addressing delegates at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, just following a meeting he held with representatives of some 30 pharmaceutical companies.
UN officials said the meeting focused on production capacities of the companies for anti-viral drugs and vaccines. Experts expect the first vaccines for the new virus, also known as swine flu, to be ready for production within several months.
Also, Ban was looking at options for poorer countries who would have trouble procuring the drugs.
World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan also attended the meeting.
'Partnerships with the private sector are absolutely vital going forward,' Ban said. 'That is why Dr Chan and I met this morning with executives of the main vaccine producers.'
The head of the UN also stressed the need for countries to continue to cooperate and share information on the virus.
He also slammed certain restrictions on trade and travel which were imposed by some countries following the outbreak of the new virus, calling them 'self-defeating.'
The World Health Assembly is the annual high-level meeting of the World Health Organization and its 193 member-states. It meets in Geneva this week for the 62nd annual meeting.
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