WHO chief, Mexican president open flu summit in Cancun

Jul 2, 2009, 17:08 GMT

Cancun, Mexico - A two-day summit on the swine flu pandemic that has sickened more than 77,000 people around the world opened Thursday in the Mexican resort city of Cancun.

'We need to watch very carefully what happens during the current winter season in the southern hemisphere,' said World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan in opening remarks.

'For reasons that are not well understood, some deaths are occurring in perfectly healthy young people. Moreover, some patients experience a very rapid clinical deterioration,' Chan said.

WHO on Wednesday reported a total of 77,201 infections around the world and 332 deaths. The United States, Mexico and Canada continue to have the highest numbers of infections, with figures rising rapidly in Argentina.

Chan thanked the three North American countries - Mexico was the epicentre of the outbreak in April - for their openness in letting the world quickly know of the new virus, and stressed that closing borders made no sense to combat the spread of the flu.

Mexico gave the world early warning, Chan said, and thus became a model for other countries in similar circumstances.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said his government responded appropriately to the then-mysterious virus. 'Information is the cornerstone for the management of a health crisis,' he said.

Ministers from 43 countries and officials from various multi- lateral agencies were at the summit, being held at the Moon Palace Hotel in Cancun, to discuss the lessons learned from the flu pandemic and the need for a vaccine.