Pandemic Response: Not a Popularity Contest

Mexican President Felipe Calderon knew he had to tell the world when people were contracting the swine flu in alarming numbers this spring.  He spoke and acted quickly despite resistance at home from those who feared a panic, and despite how unpopular the disease would suddenly make his country.

In an Associated Press article, Olga R. Rodriguez says Mexico deserves the world’s thanks for acting so quickly, and forcefully, by practically shutting down its public life in response to the outbreak. The country’s response, which cost $3.5 billion, allowed other nations more time to prepare, and slowed the initial spread of the virus, said Dr. Margaret Chan, World Health Organization Director-General in the article.

“Mexico gave the world an early warning, and it also gave the world a model of rapid and transparent reporting, aggressive control measures, and generous sharing of data and samples,” Chan was quoted as saying at a health summit last Friday.

Rodriguez compares Mexico’s response to that of Britain, which had refused to conduct widespread swine flu testing and delayed the WHO’s ability to declare the outreak an epidemic. She also compares it to Argentina, a country that “was reluctant to implement unpopular measures” because swine flu coincided with its midterm elections. About 100,000 people in Argentina have been stricken with swine flu, according to health minister Juan Manzur. And now that elections are over, Argentina has ramped up its response by keeping those most at risk away from work, school and crowds for a few weeks.

But, says Rodriguez, “Argentina still refuses to declare a national public health emergency, despite ranking third in the world for swine flu deaths behind the United States and Mexico.”

To read the full article, click here:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i46oeYP9RtskmU4CNoPNU08B5R_wD99783382