India wants to ensure that there is better benefit-sharing framework in the development of a vaccine for the threat posed by Avian influenza, say senior government officials.
New Delhi will host a major summit of health ministers from different countries in December. The government wants to ensure that any vaccine developed to tackle Avian influenza _ commonly known as bird flu _ is available to all countries.
Worried over the attempts by an Australian company to seek exclusive rights for the vaccine to combat bird flu, the Indian government wants to drive home the message that all countries must have unimpeded access to any future vaccine, a senior Indian diplomat said.
People in the developed world could have access to an effective vaccine against pandemic flu within the next three years, the World Health Organization announced on Tuesday.
An Australian company which procured the bird flu virus from Indonesia is currently developing a vaccine but several countries expressed concern that they might not have access to the new vaccine.
The WHO said recent progress in the development of the vaccine means the global production capacity will rise to 4.5 billion courses of treatment by 2010. But that would still leave some two billion people in poorer countries without access to a vaccine.
Until last year, the world's pharmaceutical companies would only have been able to produce 100 million courses of the two shots needed for full protection. Because virtually no one will have natural immunity to a new flu strain, having a vaccine available as quickly as possible will be crucial to stopping any worldwide outbreak.
Several pharmaceutical companies have succeeded in making vaccines for the H5N1 strain using an ingredient that boosts the human body's immune system to fight the virus.
But many pharmaceutical companies that can produce virus are all located in the western countries. India is determined to have better benefit-sharing opportunities in the research and development of the new virus, officials said.
Currently, six countries _ Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria, Vietnam and China _ have faced problems due to the bird flue. India also reported some few cases of bird flu two years ago but the problem is localised, analyst said.
