Fair shares

Bird flu represent a major risk for the world's population. It also is a big opportunity for the pharmaceutical company that develops a vaccine. The cost of such a vaccine is unlikely to be affordable by many affected countries, including Indonesia where most of the recent cases have occurred. Indonesia is not willing to share its samples with the World Health Organisation unless it gets vaccine plants in return.

The New Scientist in its editorial of 24.11.2007 on the subject suggests a way out of the stalemate

" The pandemics of TB and HIV may provide answers. Here public-private partnerships and other hybrid organisations are forming that are not driven by large profits. They are starting to organise R&D globally to develop drugs and vaccines cooperatively and to distribute them fairly.... everyone must start once again sharing viruses in test tubes before we are sharing them on the wind"