During a briefing on the recent increase in the swine flu pandemic alert level to a full pandemic, World Health Organization Director General Dr. Margaret Chan highlighted the significant threat as the virus emerges in developing nations that have less infrastructure and health services available.
Dr. Margaret Chan - Director General of World Health Organization (F): Finally, and perhaps of greatest concern, we do not know how this virus will behave under conditions typically found in the developing world. Although the pandemic appears to have moderate severity in comparatively well-off countries, it is prudent to anticipate a bleaker picture as the virus spreads to areas with limited resources, poor health care, and a high prevalence of underlying medical problems. Countries should prepare to see cases, or the further spread of cases, in the near future. Countries where outbreaks appear to have peaked should prepare for a second wave of infection.
VOICE: Along with the pandemic having been escalated to its highest level, the number of confirmed cases and fatalities continue to rise. Throughout at least 74 countries, some 29,700 cases have been confirmed, with 145 people who have succumbed to the swine flu. Canada and some other afflicted countries said they began vaccine development and other measures before level 6 was reached and are already treating swine flu as an epidemic.
Dr. Margaret Chan (F): Influenza pandemics, whether moderate or severe, are remarkable events because of the almost universal susceptibility of the world’s population to infection. We are all in this together, and we will all get through this, together.
VOICE: Dr. Chan and the World Health Organization, many thanks for your concerted efforts to inform and protect the lives of the world’s people. We convey our sorrow and prayers for those who have suffered loss and for the recovery of people who have been stricken ill. May humanity turn more and more to the benefit of the vegan lifestyle to be free of unwanted occurrences such as these.