Prepare for big flu pandemic economic hit

Passing this along.

 hat tip to kr105 at P4P 

Prepare for big flu pandemic economic hit, UN says

10 Jan 2008 11:14:45 GMT
Source: Reuters

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Governments around the world need to do more to prepare for the dramatic economic impact of the next flu pandemic, the United Nations influenza coordinator said on Thursday.

David Nabarro said his team had recently collected information from nearly 150 countries to see how prepared they were for a pandemic and the picture was mixed.

“Most countries have now focused on pandemic as a potential cause of catastrophe and have done some planning. But the quality of the plans is patchy and too few of them pay attention to economic and social consequences,” he told BBC radio.

“The economic consequences could be up to $2 trillion — up to 5 percent of global GDP removed,” he said, reiterating previous World Bank and UN estimates.

Nabarro will deliver a lecture at the London School of Economics later on Thursday on the global state of preparedness for any pandemic, which could be triggered by bird flu.

The current H5N1 form of bird flu is mainly an animal disease, but experts fear it might mutate into a strain that could spread easily between people, causing a pandemic which could kill millions. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by Mike Peacock)

We are not out of the woods but whose woods are we in?

 Sometimes the rhetoric around the neck makes my head spin. Who’s report should we believe? So many people are saying different things. For this reason I have agreed with the “all-hazards” preparation but worked toward pandemic preparation which has specific effects. Most disasters are not ongoing for months at a time. Different preparation is needed. We truly have to be on our feet and ready to respond to anything that comes our way even deception (—now that’s all hazard’s) yet I don’t see deception when it comes to H5N1. Pandemics happen and I have been watching this one build its attack since 1997.

H5N1 is mutating into a virus with the capability of sustained human to human spread.

The Flubie Community

Trusting a community of people from the internet did not come easy to me until I met face to face with some of these folks who truly care. We have worked together shoulder to shoulder—coming from all faiths, colors, and even nations, working on real-world, non cyberspace efforts to bring flu information to those just like us in the greater community.

We have been told countless times, we are on our own. So we are working “on our own”, but as a community, to bring information to others just like us—so they too can prepare.

We have documented the pre-pandemic events, and even thoughts and feelings, so that people can read for themselves the same evidence that has convinced us to prepare.

It was a labor of love for most of those who spent countless hours posting news reports from all over the world, graphics, and scientific information to help us to understand.

This is the first time in history that we have had so much lead time in order to prepare. Because this is the first time, people tend to not listen. Next time around more will hear the information sooner. Unfortunately those who do not hear NOW translates into lives lost.

Examine the information for yourself, for your family. You are on your own.

Visit the flu boards and blogs.

READ the information. Watch the videos.

Know what the candidates think because who we elect may very well have to respond to this.