UN health chief cautions H1N1 may not be conquered until 2011

(December 30, 2009) The moderate impact of the H1N1 pandemic is the “best possible health news of the decade,” but the head of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today warned that more people – particularly in the southern hemisphere – could become sick this season and that it would be premature to say the health risk is over. “It is too early for us to say that we have come to an end of the pandemic influenza worldwide,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told reporters at a year-end press conference in Geneva. “There is no basis for any allegations that this is not a pandemic. We are seeing million and millions of people infected with this new virus and we are fortunate that many of these people make recovery.” Ms. Chan added that it would be prudent for WHO and member states to continue to monitor the pandemic evolution for up to 12 more months. According to the agency, more than 6,000 people have died from the H1N1 since the outbreak began in April, compared with up to 500,000 who die annually from the regular flu. Pregnant women, children under two and people with underlying conditions such as respiratory problems are particularly vulnerable. She added that Member States and WHO partners have made steady but fragile progress in internationally-agreed goals in the past decade, and must maintain the momentum of progress.
Among the priorities for the next year, Ms. Chan called on countries to continue to push for progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight ambitious anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline, especially in improving maternal mortality.

The moderate impact of the H1N1 pandemic is the “best possible health news of the decade,” but the head of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today warned that more people – particularly in the southern hemisphere – could become sick this season and that it would be premature to say the health risk is over. “It is too early for us to say that we have come to an end of the pandemic influenza worldwide,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told reporters at a year-end press conference in Geneva. “There is no basis for any allegations that this is not a pandemic. We are seeing million and millions of people infected with this new virus and we are fortunate that many of these people make recovery.” Ms. Chan added that it would be prudent for WHO and member states to continue to monitor the pandemic evolution for up to 12 more months. According to the agency, more than 6,000 people have died from the H1N1 since the outbreak began in April, compared with up to 500,000 who die annually from the regular flu. Pregnant women, children under two and people with underlying conditions such as respiratory problems are particularly vulnerable. She added that Member States and WHO partners have made steady but fragile progress in internationally-agreed goals in the past decade, and must maintain the momentum of progress. Among the priorities for the next year, Ms. Chan called on countries to continue to push for progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight ambitious anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline, especially in improving maternal mortality.