# 1717
Last May the Swiss government appealed to their citizens to take some basic steps to prepare for a possible pandemic. Citizens were told that preparing for a pandemic was a shared responsibility between the public and the government.
Included was the advice to secure a small supply of masks for every household.
May 15, 2007 - 10:56 AM
Swiss told to stock up on bird flu masks
Image caption: Daniel Koch from the Federal Health Office's bird flu task force putting on a protective mask at a news conference (Keystone)
The Federal Health Office has issued a list of personal hygiene guidelines for the Swiss population in the event of a bird flu pandemic among humans.
- The main recommendation is for members of the public to stock up on 50 protective masks each, which are available in shops for a few francs.
- The government said on Tuesday that the responsibility for being prepared for an outbreak was shared between the public and the authorities.
It said the authorities were responsible for vaccinations, other medicines and the general monitoring of the disease; the public were called on to follow measures that could limit the risk of infection and slow down the spread of a pandemic.
No order to wear masks would be given until after an actual outbreak, according to the Federal Health Office.
Additional personal hygiene recommendations - in the event of a pandemic - include the regular washing of hands with soap, using a tissue when coughing or sneezing which is then immediately thrown away, and avoiding handshakes
Fast-forward 8 months and less than 1-in-10 households in Switzerland have procured the masks.
February 18, 2008 - 4:09 PM
Public shows little fear of flu pandemic
Only one in ten Swiss has bothered to stock up on protective masks to be used in the event of a flu pandemic, according to a Federal Health Office poll.
The survey showed that most residents do not intend to buy masks. Around half of the 1,011 respondents said they considered a pandemic unlikely, while a third questioned the value of such a measure.
The health office issued personal hygiene recommendations last year. Besides stocking up on masks, these include regular washing of hands with soap, using a paper tissue when coughing or sneezing and avoiding handshakes.
The authorities are warning that the risk of a flu epidemic is much higher than a few years ago and that a virus could mutate at any time.
While the efficacy of masks for the general public during a pandemic is open to debate, the Swiss government obviously hoped for a better civilian response to their request.
There seems to be some built-in reluctance among many people to prepare for a crisis. As if, by doing so, they were committing some form of societal sacrilege by doubting the safety and stability of their surroundings.
And yet one need only read the newspapers or watch TV to know that disasters strike thousands of people somewhere on this planet everyday.
Every year there are appeals here in Florida for people to prepare for Hurricane season. And yet every time a storm approaches, there is a last-minute panic to buy flashlights, batteries, plywood, and food.
The pervasive feeling is, `It can't happen to me.'
That is . . . until it does.
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