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The back and forth between Indonesia's Health Minister Supari and the WHO (World Health Organization) has begun to take on the bizarre tone of a Monty Python Sketch, but since the subject remains deadly serious, attempts are still ongoing to work out a solution regarding virus samples.
Helen Branswell takes us backstage for details on the upcoming meeting to try to resolve this issue.
WHO hold special meeting to try to break Indonesian virus sharing logjam
By Helen Branswell, Medical Reporter, THE CANADIAN PRESS
World Health Organization member countries will take another crack this week at resolving a dispute over avian influenza virus sharing that threatens both how the world monitors for potential flu pandemics and the way flu vaccine, seasonal and pandemic, is made.
But many are skeptical the meeting can resolve the lingering stalemate, triggered early this year when Indonesia announced it would no longer supply viruses to the WHO's Global Influenza Surveillance Network without guaranteed access to vaccines created from them.
The Third World Network, a non-governmental organization that advocates for the rights of developing countries, has been advising Indonesia in this dispute. Its legal expert says it is unlikely the four-day meeting, beginning Tuesday, will resolve all outstanding issues.
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