Polish PM: Poland not buying swine flu vaccination unless it has been properly tested
By Monika Scislowska (CP) – 5 hours ago
WARSAW, Poland — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday that his government won't buy vaccines for swine flu that have not been properly tested or from producers who won't take responsibility for possible side effects.
Tusk told reporters that vaccine producers were pressuring governments to buy, but were also demanding that all responsibility and compensation for possible negative side effects fall upon government shoulders.
"Today we are dealing with great pressure from pharmaceutical firms ... we are dealing with expectations that hundreds of millions of zlotys (dollars) will be spent on vaccine while no one wants to guarantee that it has no side effects," he said.
He stressed that the few dozen swine cases in Poland have been mild and no deaths have been reported.
Some independent health experts have been advising vaccination after a recent surge in flu cases in neighbouring Ukraine saw more than 700,000 cases and 109 deaths of people with flu-like illness in recent weeks.
Fourteen of the fatalities were swine flu cases, Polish news agency PAP reported, citing Ukraine's chief doctor Oleksandr Bilovol.
Polish health officials said a military medical laboratory in Pulawy was testing samples taken in Ukraine from sick people. Poland is also sending face masks to Ukraine.
On Thursday, the World Health Organization said that the swine flu virus has become the predominant flu strain worldwide.
In some countries, swine flu accounts for up to 70 per cent of the flu viruses being sampled, according to Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's top flu official.
While most people recover from the illness without needing medical treatment, officials are also continuing to see severe cases in people under 65 - people who are not usually at risk during regular flu seasons.
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
WARSAW, Poland — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday that his government won't buy vaccines for swine flu that have not been properly tested or from producers who won't take responsibility for possible side effects.
Tusk told reporters that vaccine producers were pressuring governments to buy, but were also demanding that all responsibility and compensation for possible negative side effects fall upon government shoulders.
"Today we are dealing with great pressure from pharmaceutical firms ... we are dealing with expectations that hundreds of millions of zlotys (dollars) will be spent on vaccine while no one wants to guarantee that it has no side effects," he said.
He stressed that the few dozen swine cases in Poland have been mild and no deaths have been reported.
Some independent health experts have been advising vaccination after a recent surge in flu cases in neighbouring Ukraine saw more than 700,000 cases and 109 deaths of people with flu-like illness in recent weeks.
Fourteen of the fatalities were swine flu cases, Polish news agency PAP reported, citing Ukraine's chief doctor Oleksandr Bilovol.
Polish health officials said a military medical laboratory in Pulawy was testing samples taken in Ukraine from sick people. Poland is also sending face masks to Ukraine.
On Thursday, the World Health Organization said that the swine flu virus has become the predominant flu strain worldwide.
In some countries, swine flu accounts for up to 70 per cent of the flu viruses being sampled, according to Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's top flu official.
While most people recover from the illness without needing medical treatment, officials are also continuing to see severe cases in people under 65 - people who are not usually at risk during regular flu seasons.
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alastair Carnegie on
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If you have 700,000 people infected with flu-like symptoms, several thousand of those will be elderly, and several thousand will be infants, possibly with undeveloped immune systems. Others may be under the weather for any number of reasons. The fact that a reported 109 victims have died, indicates that this H1N1 flu is very mild. The experience from Mexico, was that the flu symptoms got milder as the flu spread. There are risks associated with vaccination, and these known risks are probably greater than those from the flu bug itself. Vitamin D3, will boost your immune system, as well as mineral supplements and Vitamin C. Have some hot lemon and honey, keep warm and cozy and you will doubtless survive to tell the tale of short term misery. Remember that the actual infection will protect you for decades to come....so just try to look on the bright side of a mild dose of flu!;-)
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