H1N1 Flu Update: U.S. Flu Funds; South Africa Confirms First Case; EU Encouraged To Coordinate Pandemic Vaccine Policy
Senate Passes Bill Including Flu Funds
The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a $105.9 billion war-funding bill that “includes $7.7 billion to prepare for pandemic flu,” the Washington Post reports (Bacon, Washington Post, 6/19).
South Africa
Confirms First Case of H1N1
Also on Thursday, South Africa’s Department of Health confirmed the country’s first H1N1 case, Reuters reports. The department released a written statement saying, “The patient, a 12-year-old who flew in from the U.S. on Sunday, was admitted to hospital on Monday and was kept in isolation,” Reuters writes. He has since been released from the hospital (Bosch, Reuters, 6/18).
Scientific Leaders Appeal For Coordinated EU Pandemic Vaccine Purchasing Policy
The Times of Malta examines the recent appeal by the European Scientific Working group on Influenza (ESWI) that the EU coordinate a influenza pandemic vaccine purchasing policy to “ensure equitable distribution of pandemic vaccines” in the EU and “help the WHO acquire a stockpile of pandemic vaccines for distribution in developing countries” (Times of Malta, 6/18).
The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.