# 1069
Indonesia has withheld bird flu virus samples from the WHO since late last year, citing the unfairness of the vaccine production and distribution system. They have vowed that no virus samples will be sent until these problems are addressed.
Suddenly, however, the Jakarta Post is reporting that Indonesia will send the Bali virus samples to the WHO. They apparently want the WHO to `prove the virus wasn't passed human-to-human', so they can save the tourist industry in Bali.
While I'm sure the WHO will be happy to get their hands on this virus sample, and diplomats will view this as a potential breakthrough in the impasse between Indonesia and the WHO, to me this looks more like a cynical and self-serving decision on the part of the Indonesian government.
They apparently are willing to withhold virus samples for more than eight months, and in doing so, endanger the entire world, but if their tourist industry is threatened, they want the WHO to help salvage it for them.
Govt. sends Bali bird flu sample to WHO
JAKARTA (Antara): The government has agreed to sent a bird flu virus sample that has killed a woman in Bali to the World Health Organization (WHO), Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Friday.
Siti Fadilah said the Bali bird flu sample sharing was necessary to prove that the deadly virus did not spread from human to another human.
Besides, it was also important to avoid panic in Bali, which is a famous tourist destination in the world, she said.
The government has refused to share bird flu sample with the WHO as Indonesia could not afford to buy bird flu vaccines produced by international laboratories based on samples from various countries including Indonesia.
It has repeatedly demanded better access to pandemic vaccines.
Bird flu has killed 83 people in Indonesia, the highest death toll in the world. (***)
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