October 12 , 2005: Bird flu: better EU
response required
Conservative
MEPs drive forward EU preparedness plans
Outbreaks of Avian Flu in Turkey and
Romania should be a wake up call to those European countries
not doing enough to prepare for a bird flu pandemic, Robert Sturdy
MEP said today. He was speaking after his opinion on a proposal
for measures to control avian flu was adopted by the Parliament's
environment committee.
Robert's reports calls for improved cooperation
and communication across member states as well as international
agreement on the production and distribution of vaccine stocks.
The opinion will now go to Neil Parish MEP, Conservative Agriculture spokesman,
who is in charge of the animal health aspects of the Report for
the European Parliament.
Robert's report stresses the need for
the European Union to increase efforts to stockpile vaccines.
Europe produces 70% of the world's flu vaccine which would not
be sufficient in the event of a major pandemic. If states with vaccine
producing capabilities, including the UK, fail to reach an agreement with
non-producer countries about what should be done in the event of a pandemic
it could cause chaos with countries desperate to keep vaccines for their
own citizens. Robert's report also calls for the European Union to give
more support to countries in South East Asia as they try to prevent
the virus spreading.
Robert said: "Bird flu does not respect national borders. A coordinated
approach from EU member states is essential if we are to deal with
this threat effectively. The cases in Turkey and Romania over the
weekend reinforce the importance of what we are doing.
"The EU should be providing more support to countries that
have already experienced outbreaks of bird flu whilst making sure
we are doing all we can to be prepared at home."
"There is no doubt that this is a difficult issue to get right,
we don't want to create unnecessary panic as currently the real
risk is low, but even the Commission admits that some member states
are doing less than they ought to."
