Thailand was selected to host the event by an assembly of all 193 WHO member states, which ended last week in Geneva. The issue is one of the most controversial in terms of global health, and Thailand proved adept at finding a compromise between the divergent stances of developing and developed countries.

The meeting will take place in July or August.

Preparedness for an influenza pandemic was one of the two most contentious topics debated at the assembly. The other was public health and intellectual property rights.

During the two-week assembly, developing and developed countries insisted on protecting their own benefits. Indonesia and other developing countries, including Vietnam, Egypt and Iran, insisted they would not share samples of local strains of the H5N1 virus unless there was an agreement on benefit sharing and access to vaccines.

Meanwhile, the US and other developed countries wanted all countries that have H5N1 viruses to share samples of the viruses first and talk about benefit sharing and access to vaccines later.

Mongkol said both sides courted Thailand but Thai officials decided to take a middle path, saying that both the virus samples and benefits should be shared and that equitable access to vaccines at affordable prices must be guaranteed.

The WHO assembly eventually adopted a resolution on the sharing of influenza viruses and access to pandemic vaccines. An international stockpile of vaccines for H5N1 or other influenza viruses with pandemic potential will be established, and mechanisms and guidelines to ensure fair and equitable distribution of vaccines will be formulated.

Mongkol said the process to draw up a global strategy on preparations for an influenza pandemic would be transparent. The guidelines produced at the Thai meeting will be taken up at a WHO meeting in Geneva in October.

Duangkamol Sajirawattanakul

The Nation