Drudge links to this Financial Times piece: "The world is poorly prepared for a future influenza pandemic, with only a dozen countries purchasing significant quantities of antiviral drugs and just 50 with contingency plans on how to cope with such an outbreak. A Financial Times analysis on the eve of a World Health Organisation meeting on preparing for a pandemic shows widely differing approaches between countries that already have plans, and a sharp divide between richer countries and many poorer nations, creating splits that could hinder efforts to curb disease."
Great item on the WHO website: "In the lead up to World Health Day on 7 April this year, six mothers living in different countries of the world are sharing their experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. In this fourth part of Great expectations, the babies are one week old. They have reached a significant milestone in their lives, as the risk of death in the first seven days is higher than at any point in the first five years of a child's life." Read More...
From ABC News (via UN Wire): "David Nabarro, the WHO's top health crisis official, said health officials' success at combating disease had exceeded his expectations, after the U.N. body had warned of possible mosquito-and water-borne epidemics in the region, which is in the grip of the rainy season."
Significant progress in the fight to eradicate polio: "The number of polio cases reported in Asia almost halved last year, meaning that efforts to eradicate the disease on the continent by the end of 2005 are on course, the World Health Organization said Friday."
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