"UN calls for $1b to combat swine flu" by Associated Press | July 7, 2009
GENEVA - The United Nations may need more than $1 billion this year to help poor countries fight the global swine flu epidemic, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday. Ban said the money is needed to ensure that poor countries get some vaccine doses and antivirals if the global epidemic continues to spread....
For the moment, swine flu is mild and most people recover without needing treatment. But the virus could have a more devastating impact in countries where populations are fighting other health problems like AIDS, pneumonia, malaria, and tuberculosis.
World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan told potential donors that she wants to start a minimum stockpile of vaccines to 49 of the world’s least developed countries as a first step.See: World Health Czar
She did not name the countries. “Many of the developing countries have weak health systems,’’ she said. “They actually go into this pandemic what I call empty-handed. They don’t have antivirals. They don’t have vaccines. They don’t have antibiotics.’’
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