WHO Building – Geneva.

Doctor Tiger.

The World Health Organization says Mongolia became the first developing country to receive doses of donated H1N1 swine flu vaccines.  A WHO spokeswoman tells VOA more vaccines will be distributed for use in 95 poor countries during the next few months.  

The World Health Organization has divided the 95 developing countries into three groups.  Mongolia is the first country in the first group of countries to receive the H1N1 vaccine donations.

WHO spokeswoman Nyka Alexander tells VOA a country must have measures in place for distributing the vaccine before it can become eligible to receive it.  

“There is a whole stack of logistical issues behind that.  But, we are very happy that the campaign has begun, the first arrivals have begun.  The deployment has been going on for many, many months now.  But, the actual first arrival of vaccines happened today,” she said.

Alexander says the vaccines will be shipped to all of the first group of 35 countries within the next month.  She says the World Health Organization is not releasing the names of the countries yet because the logistics of distribution keep changing.  

“So, for now, we are just saying that the three countries that seem closest to receiving-well Mongolia, which did receive,” she said. “Azerbaijan, which should receive within a few days and Afghanistan as well, looks pretty likely to be next on our list, next of the countries able to receive.  So, there is that.  The other countries on this first cluster of 35, there are several in our Western Pacific region and there are also Pacific island countries.”  

She says health care workers will be the first to be immunized, followed by people most at risk, such as pregnant women and very young children.  

Western European countries are trying to unload surplus stocks of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.  Countries such as France, Spain, Germany and Switzerland find they are stuck with too much of the vaccine because of low public demand for the flu shots.

Alexander says the World Health Organization is not involved in any of the discussions going on between governments selling and purchasing the vaccines.

“However, if any of these countries with excess capacity wish to donate further vaccine to WHO, of course we would welcome that because there are countries that are still seeking vaccines.  We have not with the most recent, in the past couple of weeks, we have not received any new commitments,” she said.   

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization has received pledges of 190 million doses of vaccine from 14 countries, which also includes pledges of money.  Alexander says the money is important because that pays for the distribution of the vaccine to people who need it.

voanews.gov

Doctor Tiger.

In March, the virus caught the attention of health officials in Mexico when cases of a flu-like illness were reported in the state of Veracruz. The transmission of the virus was so rapid that by mid-June the WHO declared the first flu pandemic in more than four decades.

n early 2009, Mexico was the epicenter of a mysterious outbreak. A severe respiratory illness was affecting young people, contrary to seasonal viruses that often attack the elderly.  

Health officials in Mexico and the United States were puzzled by a virus that combined elements of swine, avian and human influenza.

It was nicknamed Swine Flu, although a few months later public health experts began calling it by its proper name: H1N1.  

Because Mexico is a popular tourist destination, Swine Flu quickly spread beyond North America to parts of Europe and Asia.

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), began a series of daily briefings to track H1N1 as it spread around the globe. 

On June 11th, she announced the WHO was raising it to a pandemic. 

“The virus is spreading under a close and careful watch,” she said.  “No previous pandemic has been detected so early or watched so closely, in real-time, right at the very beginning.”

The WHO authorized drug manufacturers to begin testing possible vaccines, and the first human trials began a month later.  

By October, the first batches were distributed to health care workers, pregnant women, young people and those with underlying medical conditions.   

Dr. Anne Schuchat is director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

“As the supply increases, we do think that access and convenience and ease of getting vaccinated will improve,” she said

By late December, WHO reported that more than 10,000 people had died from H1N1.  Most of those deaths occurred in North America. 

WHO says many countries have stopped counting the people with milder cases. 

The virus appeared to be leveling off in North America and Europe by year’s end.  But some experts say it could come back in a third wave early next year.

In the United States in 2009, new recommendations on mammograms by a government appointed panel of experts fueled a controversy around breast cancer and how to prevent it.

For decades, American women were urged to get yearly mammograms, starting at age 40, as part of screening for breast cancer. 

But the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advised women in their 40s to delay their first mammogram until age 50, and after 50, schedule the x-ray every other year.

By late November, many American doctors and women said they were unhappy with the new guidelines.  

Doctors like Sharon Rosenbaum Smith of St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York said they would advise patients to ignore the recommendations.

“They need to start getting mammograms at age 40,” she said.  “Mammograms pick up cancers when they’re smaller.”

Feeling the backlash, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius advised patients to stay calm and talk with their doctor.

“Figure out your own health situation with your doctor, your family history.  Those are the really important ingredients,” said HHS Secretary Sebelius.

As 2009 came to a close, suicides in the U.S. Army reached record levels.  U.S. Army personnel predicted the suicide rate would be higher than the total in 2008.  The Army launched a study into possible causes.

Vice Chief of Staff, General Peter Chiarelli, said military personnel must be more aggressive in getting treatment for mentally ill soldiers. 

“It is absolutely unacceptable to have individuals suffering in silence because they’re afraid their peers or superiors will make fun of them, or worse, it will adversely affect their careers,” he said.

The year 2009 did produce some hopeful news.  In September, the United Nations said the estimated number of deaths of children under age five had dropped from the previous year. 

A UN report said it was the first time that deaths of children had dropped below nine million.  

More immunizations, greater use of insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria, programs to promote breastfeeding and better treatment of diarrhea and pneumonia were cited as reasons.

voa.gov

Doctor Tiger

The director-general of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, predicts the H1N1 swine flu virus is likely to continue circulating around the world for another year.  She warns nations must remain vigilant because the H1N1 virus could mutate into a more dangerous form.

Chan says impressive progress has been made in areas such as treatment for HIV/AIDS, in the large number of lives saved among children under five and in significant cuts in deaths from malaria and measles.

But, she warns this progress is fragile.  She says the momentum for health development could come to a grinding halt because of problems stemming from the food and financial crises, the changing climate and the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

“Just imagine, a severe pandemic coming at such a fragile time in a world where there are many people suffering from chronic diseases like heart disease, lung disease, including asthma, cancers, with many more people suffering from HIV, obesity and the list goes on,” she said. 

The World Health Organization reports H1N1 has spread to more than 200 countries, with nearly 12,000 laboratory confirmed deaths.  Chan says it is likely this death toll is greatly underestimated.  She says it probably will take about two years after the pandemic has ended for the true figure to be established.

She says the pandemic has peaked in many countries, including the United States, Canada and parts of Europe.  But, she notes it is gaining in intensity in other parts of the world such as Egypt and India.

“I think it is too premature and too early for us to say we have come to an end of the pandemic influenza worldwide,” she said.  “It would be prudent and appropriate for WHO, together with our member States to continue to monitor the evolution of this pandemic for the next six to 12 months,” she added.

Chan says governments around the world are far more prepared to deal with a pandemic now than they were five years ago when the far more lethal H5N1 Avian Flu was circulating.  

She adds it is fortunate the current H1N1 pandemic is moderate because the world is not prepared to deal with such a toxic and deadly virus.  

WHO chief Chan urges people not to become complacent because of the relatively mild nature of the H1N1 pandemic.  She says people must keep up their guard against the virus, which is unpredictable and could change into a far more dangerous form.

voa.gov