Letter from the Royal Society
We were interested to note the recently launched
inquiry into the effectiveness of action carried out through intergovernmental
organisations to control the global spread of communicable diseases
and considered that you may wish to note a joint study by the
Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences on Pandemic influenza:
science to policy.
The report of this study recommends actions
that should be taken by intergovernmental organisations for improving
the surveillance of avian influenza and data sharing including:
— the development by the World Organisation
of Animal Health (OIE) or Food and Agriculture Organisation of
the United Nations (FAO) of sentinel networks of farmers or villages
in areas lacking animal disease surveillance infrastructure for
outbreak reporting;
— the Department of Health and Defra,
in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) should
review the potential applications of the data collected in infectious
disease surveillance generally; and
— the UK government should lead efforts
to coordinate plans for real-time data collection and data sharing
during a pandemic, at the EU, EU and G8, and WHO/UN level.
18 January 2008
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