UK report casts doubt on pandemic response effectiveness

A new report from the UK says far more needs to be done to protect against outbreaks of infectious diseases.

While international experts have been repeatedly warning over the last few years of the potential threat of a flu pandemic, the report from the House of Lords Intergovernmental Organisations Committee says there is poor coordination between international organisations and governments.

The report says improvements in surveillance and response systems are essential and cooperation between agencies and governments needs to be encouraged and strengthened.

Experts have warned that a flu pandemic is long overdue and some suggest the next one could kill between 2m and 50m worldwide - the most likely culprit at present is the H5N1 bird flu virus.

The report acknowledges the threat from bird flu but also highlights problems with diseases such as TB and malaria which are developing antibiotic resistance.

The Lords report praises the British Government's approach but says there are concerns about how well organised the overall international effort is and calls for the World Health Organisation to take a leadership role in the matter.

The report says there are concerns that arrangements for detecting new animal diseases were "less comprehensive" than those for human illnesses which was a worry as many new diseases start in animals and better surveillance systems were needed to deal with the problem.

The report also warns that the ever increasing amount of international travel will encourage the spread of a pandemic.

The British Government gives over £400m a year alone to international groups and the report says it is vital that there is sufficient surveillance of disease outbreaks to limit their spread and more focus on improving health services in the developing world.

Australian experts say the report is "unhelpful" but too simplistic and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has also been critical.

Experts say it is difficult to predict the path of such diseases and most governments are preparing for a pandemic as realistically as possible.

They say while the H5N1 bird flu virus remains a significant threat it is not at present transmitted between humans and should the virus mutate governments around the world have stockpiles of vaccines and antivirals at the ready.

Many believe the main concern at present comes from poor, under-developed countries which lack the infrastructure to deal with a pandemic of any sort - experts say this is where new diseases spread and gather strength.