H5N1 vaccine stockpiling "feasible," WHO meeting says

Representatives of countries and vaccine manufacturers agreed at a meeting at the World Health Organization that creating a stockpile of H5N1 vaccine, and separately developing a mechanism to ensure broader access to pandemic influenza vaccine for developing countries in the advent of a pandemic, may be feasible.

"We have taken another crucial step forward in ensuring that all countries have access to the benefits of international influenza virus sharing and pandemic vaccine production," said Margaret Chan, Director General of the WHO. "All countries will now be better placed to protect the public health security of their people and the world at large. Such cooperation is welcome and is consistent with the International Health Regulations, which soon come into force," Dr Chan added.

Meeting at WHO headquarters on April 25, countries which have experienced human H5N1 infections, donor nations, and vaccine manufacturers from industrialized and developing countries agreed that both scientific evidence and international political commitment support further efforts to examine whether and how to establish a stockpile of H5N1 vaccine and a mechanism for broader access to pandemic vaccine when the next influenza pandemic occurs.