Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 briefing note 21
10 June 2010
The international response to the influenza pandemic: WHO responds to the critics

Background
On Friday 4 June 2010, the BMJ, formerly British Medical Journal, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) simultaneously released reports critical of the World Health Organization’s handling of the H1N1 pandemic. WHO provided a response organized around key questions as below:

– Did WHO remove severity from the definition of a pandemic?

– Did WHO exaggerate the threat?

– Were any WHO pandemic decisions made to increase industry profits?

– What safeguards are in place to guard against conflicts of interest?

– What is the function of the Emergency Committee and why have the names of its members not been disclosed?

– What evidence supports a role for antiviral drugs during an influenza pandemic?

– Was a WHO meeting held in 2002 on influenza vaccines and antiviral drugs influenced by industry?

The full response is available at:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/briefing_20100610/en/index.html