Word: leveller
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...important to remember that the WHO's definition of a pandemic takes only transmissibility into account, not severity, so the fact that the disease has been quite mild shouldn't factor into the alert level - which Fukuda confirmed in a call with reporters today. With the sudden surge in cases in the southern hemisphere, however - where the winter flu season is about to begin - the global situation seems to fit the criteria for phase 6. But the WHO is still holding back...
...public reaction - like the severity of the flu - is not a stated factor in the WHO's pandemic-alert evaluation. And some independent experts have criticized the WHO for dragging its feet. They worry that, as new cases pile up and the WHO continues to hold the alert level at 5, the entire pandemic-rating system will lose all meaning - and the global body, which is probably the most respected of United Nations organizations, will lose valuable authority. "I'm afraid that they're about to go off the cliff of scientific credibility," says Michael Osterholm, director of the Center...
...course, pandemic-alert levels are themselves fairly arbitrary categories. If and when the WHO moves to level 6, nothing meaningful will really have changed about the virus. But however arbitrary the alert levels are - and however unprecedented or confusing the H1N1 situation may be - the pandemic-phase system was devised by the WHO itself. So if the group allows itself to be influenced by political pressure or lets the alert levels become a simple judgment call from within the organization, then something will be lost. "The WHO is supposed to be an independent body we can all respect," says Osterholm...
...says that it still respects the science, but is mindful of the public reaction to the pandemic-alert phases - perhaps even more so after the global media went into spasms after the level rose to 5 on April 29. There are, of course, real dangers to a panicked reaction, beyond the assault of tabloid headlines. When people panic about a new disease, they start flooding the hospitals even when there's nothing wrong with them - a phenomenon carried out by the "worried well." They suck up limited resources from patients who are really sick from the virus - or are sick...
...Ultra and Charmin Ultra Soft shot up 40% in 2008. Compare the U.S. desire for an ever plusher flush with the more austere bathroom habits of Europe and Latin America, where recycled TP makes up about 20% of the at-home market. Recycled material simply can't match the level of comfort that virgin fiber provides - and that U.S. consumers have come to expect. "They won't go for a green product unless you can make it equal to or better than the conventional alternative," says Kimberly-Clark spokesman Dave Dickson...