Word: jakarta
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Indonesia Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari tells TIME that there's been a lack of "goodwill" from the WHO, and that Indonesia won't share a single virus with the international community until it receives a "green light" from the WHO that Jakarta would retain commercial control of its samples. "We feel let down by the WHO," she said in an interview last Friday. "We only demand fairness...
...when pressed on exactly what Indonesia what it will take to get that "green light," Supari is less than specific. She says she doesn't necessarily need an agreement in "black and white" recognizing Indonesia's ownership rights, yet goes on to argue that Jakarta should have final say on any vaccines made from its viruses. For its part, the WHO has tried hard to accommodate Indonesia's objections. At a high-level meeting in Geneva late last month, the WHO raised the possibility of creating a virtual vaccine stockpile that developing countries might be able to draw upon...
...important mutation that might mean H5N1 is ready to go pandemic. (Currently H5N1 only rarely infects human beings, but flu viruses change constantly - hence the need for up-to-date analysis.) Since Indonesia is where most new human bird flu cases have been occurring - as one Jakarta official acknowledged with a twist of pride, "We do have the most deadly virus" - scientists need to see Indonesian samples. That can help them pinpoint exactly when a pandemic might be in its beginning stages, still early enough to be controlled with a rapid response. Indonesia may be right to criticize unfair access...
...nations of the WHO, which begins May 14. Indonesia has been weathering criticism of its response to bird flu since the outbreaks began, but the country will come under intense international pressure if it continues to abstain from sharing. One international health expert based in the region notes that Jakarta hasn't been shy about asking for international help in controlling the disease in chickens, claiming that bird flu had originated outside its borders. "But when it comes to sharing samples, they take the position that the virus belongs to them," the expert said. "It's somewhat contradictory...
...recent refusal to share samples, Indonesia has actually been fairly open about bird flu and prompt in reporting new cases - considerably more so than China, which remains a "black hole of bird flu data," according to the expert. But that goodwill will be squandered unless Indonesia resumes sharing. Unfortunately, Jakarta may be digging in its heels. Supari told TIME that "the current unfair access to vaccines worsens the global inequality between the rich and the poor, between the North and the South - and I think that is more dangerous than a pandemic." Unless Jakarta changes its policy, we might...