-- AmandaSheelar - 10 Nov 2005

Headline:

Bird-Flu Battle In Eastern Asia Is to Be Joined By World Bank

About:

On Monday the World Bank officials met to consider the amount of money needed for Southeast Asian countries to battle Avian Flu. They came to the amount of 500 million dollars, but are going to meet next week about another tragic topic. The World Bank is going to discuss the amount of money that is going to be needed if Avian Flu begins to transmit from human to human. They are going to meet again in Geneva to consider the possible 800 billion dollar loan that may be needed for the pandemic.

Another topic at hand is Roche. This company produces medicine that can cure this frightful flu. Their product is called Tamiflu, and Roche has started to deliberate about which companies are going to help mass produce it. They have started to discuss the matter with eight companies out of the 150 that requested to be involved. One of the companies involved is a generic company that might be able to sell the medication for less.

Thoughts:

Reading about Avian Flu does not make me an expert on the subject, but I can’t imagine that this case would require 500 million dollars, or possibly more. I realize that it could become a pandemic and that would be most unfortunate, but what would all of the 500 million dollars go to. There would be costs involving veterinarians, medication, and scientists, but I think that the amount the World Bank has figured is astronomical.

Roche in my opinion has made a very wise decision. Letting other companies help in this large production can only reduce the chance of the Avian Flu becoming a pandemic. This comforts me, and it also makes me wonder if the mass production is going to be enough.
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