Infection Control

WHO defends response to H1N1 pandemic

Infection Control Weekly Monitor, June 16, 2010

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The World Health Organization (WHO) is defending its decisions surrounding the H1N1 pandemic after an article published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) criticized the organization using pandemic advisors who had done paid work for pharmaceutical companies, raising potential conflict of interest concerns.

Furthermore a statement by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said WHO’s handling of the pandemic led to a “waste of large sums of public money, and unjustified scares and fears about the health risks faced by the European public.”

WHO defended it’s response to the pandemic, but admitted the agency needs more transparency in listing industry connections. WHO says it already has systems in place to protect against advice that is biased by commercial interests, but publication of relevant interest needs to be more routine and the organization is currently working on updating those systems.



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