| ■ Indonesia Wants Agreement Before Sharing Bird Flu Samples | 07.03.19 |
| Indonesia's health minister said Wednesday that the country will not share bird flu virus samples with the World Health Organization unless it has a legally binding agreement that the samples won't be used to create expensive vaccines that are unaffordable for developing nations, the Associated Press reported. A letter of guarantee received late last month from WHO Director General Margaret Chan is not sufficient, said Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari. "That's just an agreement in principle ... we need one that is legally binding," Supari told reporters. Leaders from Asia-Pacific nations are scheduled to meet later this month in Jakarta, Indonesia, to discuss changes they want made to the WHO's 50-year-old virus-sharing system, the AP reported. Under that system, influenza samples are distributed freely to nations around the world. Revisions need to be made to the system so it's "fair for developing countries, poor countries, affected countries," Supari said. |