# 4252
Last night CIDRAP News ran a well sourced piece co-written by Lisa Schnirring and News Editor Robert Roos, which gives voice to a number of well respected and internationally known flu experts who refute the charges being levied against the World Health Organization that this has been a `false pandemic’.
Among those whose opinions appear in this article are Dr David Salisbury (head of the United Kingdom's immunization program), Australia's chief medical officer Dr Jim Bishop, British Health Secretary Andy Burnham, and Walter R. Dowdle, MD, former deputy director of the CDC.
The heavy lifting, however, comes from interviews of Dr. Gregory Poland, MD, Director of the Vaccine Research Group at the Mayo Clinic, and CIDRAP Director Michael T. Osterholm.
An excerpt, but follow the link to read the whole thing.
Health officials, experts reject 'false pandemic' charges
Lisa Schnirring and Robert Roos
Staff Writers
Jan 13, 2010 (CIDRAP News) – Leading public health officials and experts have sharply rejected charges from some European officials that pharmaceutical companies used exaggerated claims about the H1N1 pandemic threat to scare governments into buying unnecessary stockpiles of vaccines.
The Council of Europe, an organization of 47 nations, said yesterday that the charges will be on the agenda when its Parliamentary Assembly meets in Strasbourg, France, later this month. The assembly's Social Affairs Committee has asked for a debate on the theme "False pandemics: a threat to health," according to a statement on the council's Web site.
The charges, detailed in a proposed resolution, come as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and other countries are scaling back their vaccine orders. Weak demand for the vaccine in the face of declining flu activity and the need for just one dose have left many countries with surpluses, though public health officials warn that another wave of infections could come this winter.
Dr Wolfgang Wodarg, a German physician and politician who chairs the Council of Europe's health committee, was quoted in the British media as saying the World Health Organization's (WHO's) pandemic declaration last June triggered vaccine contracts with governments and that companies reap financial benefits without taking any risks. He told the London Daily Mail that the pandemic H1N1 virus was "a mild flu and a false pandemic."
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