The health of nations
China's imposition of emergency measures this week to prevent an outbreak of avian influenza from spreading highlights, once again, the threat of a possible flu pandemic that could kill millions of people around the world.
So, too, does the decision by the 192 member states of the World Health Organisation at their annual meeting in Geneva that ended on Wednesday to approve new international rules giving the body more extensive powers to cope with outbreaks of infectious disease.
If international action can be combined with tighter national controls, it will help safeguard public health in a globalised world where the movement of large numbers of people, animals and goods is widespread.
But how well-equipped is the international community to guard against contagion? The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has killed more than 50 people and devastated poultry flocks in several East Asian countries since last year. If it mutates so that it can pass easily from human to human, the WHO has warned that it could result in a global pandemic, likely to kill up to 7 million people.
China took action just hours after it announced that migratory birds found dead on May 4 in Qinghai province were killed by the H5N1 virus. Beijing said it had ordered nature reserves in the area to be closed to the public to prevent people and domestic birds from being in contact with migratory waterfowl. It allocated 3 million doses of avian flu vaccine to the region - enough to inoculate all the home-bred poultry there. UN agencies were reportedly alerted.
Problems in dealing with the outbreak of Sars in China two years ago added weight to demands that the WHO revise international health regulations. They date back to 1969 and only cholera, the plague and yellow fever were notifiable diseases.
China was initially secretive about severe acute respiratory syndrome, and reluctant to give full access to WHO officials to investigate the new illness. Sars eventually spread to 30 countries, killing more than 800 people and disrupting tourism and travel.
Under the revised rules approved by WHO members, countries will be required to report to the world health body any disease outbreak that could constitute a public-health emergency of international concern, allow in inspectors, and show they are taking effective control measures.
'This is a major step forward for international health,' said WHO director-general Lee Jong-wook. 'These new regulations recognise that diseases do not respect national boundaries.'
Should there be any disagreement between the WHO and a member state on the seriousness of an outbreak, the revised rules permit the head of the UN body to summon a committee of experts to make recommendations on tackling the threat.
But the new rules will not come into force for two years, and there are doubts about whether all WHO countries will be fully open and compliant. The Asian Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday that it had evidence China was covering up outbreaks of highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease among farm animals. This was renewing questions about Beijing's willingness to be transparent about other infectious diseases such as bird flu.
Earlier this month, a senior official of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation accused some Asian nations, which he did not name, of preventing proper monitoring of the bird flu virus by giving too few poultry-infected samples to scientists to pass to the WHO.
Joseph Domenech, head of the FAO's animal health service in Rome, said the Asian countries concerned were worried about loss of sovereignty and negative publicity that could undermine investor confidence and frighten away tourists.
Michael Richardson is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. This is a personal comment
