News

12th April 2005

Bowis: flu pandemic could kill millions in Europe

Conservative Health Spokesman demands government action now.

The British Government is putting lives at risk by its inadequate response to the imminent threat of a global flu pandemic, Conservative Health Spokesman in the European Parliament, John Bowis MEP, said today.  Such a pandemic could kill millions in Europe unless all EU governments act now to safeguard public health, he said. Mr Bowis, who was responding to a Commission statement he had requested, said a World Health Organisation (WHO) assessment of the threat made swift action imperative if European governments are to avoid a repeat of the 1918 outbreak that killed millions of people across Europe. Mr Bowis was instrumental in setting up the European Centre for Disease Control, and he wants to see the centre take on a pivotal role in pre-empting a pandemic.

He said:  "Many European countries, including Britain, do not seem to appreciate the urgency of the WHO's warning, and the severity with which a pandemic could strike. For six months, the United States has been stockpiling antiviral drugs and has placed orders for millions of vaccines.  But the UK is not buying any vaccines and is only planning to protect 20 per cent of the population with antivirals in the event of an outbreak.  As an MEP for London, I'm concerned that the capital, as a global hub for travel and therefore disease, could easily find itself at the centre of an outbreak. London's plans for dealing with a flu pandemic are inadequate."

Mr Bowis is also concerned that an outbreak could spread from Asia to Africa, affecting millions of people in the world's poorest continent and overwhelming the limited public health services in most African countries.

He went on to say:  "The effects of a flu pandemic in Britain would be dramatic, with enormous economic consequences and the potential for social unrest. This really is a nightmare scenario. I want to see the European Centre for Disease Control at the heart of a coordinated response to the danger. The centre is well-placed to make contingency plans, organise alerts and rapid response, but this does not exonerate the British Government for its inaction to date."