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インフルエンザワクチン論争:長妻大臣対舛添元大臣 #788 Nov. 7, 2009 [35. 感染症および自己免疫疾患]

インフルエンザワクチン論争:長妻大臣対舛添元大臣 #788 Nov. 7, 2009
 昨日(11月6日)の国会論戦、モスラ対ゴジラがとっても面白かった。新型インフルエンザ・ワクチンに関する論戦である。
 舛添委員は長妻大臣に10ミリリットル・バイアルは棄てるケースが多いから無駄になると食いついた。実際には半分は1ミリリットルのバイアルである。それに現下の状況を見ると、先々週の中標津病院ですら、お昼近くの日曜緊急外来に50人ほどはマスクをして診察待ちをしている患者がいたから、10ミリリットルのバイアルが使い切れずに、大半を廃棄したなどと言うことは考えにくい。
 長妻大臣は国内4メーカのうち1社が1ミリバイアルでの生産は、季節性インフルエンザワクチン生産に支障が出るために、生産能力の制限のために受けられないと通告してきたと、周辺事情を明らかにした。
 笑止なのは、このような事態を招いたのは元厚生労働大臣がワクチンについてなにも手配をしなかったからである。他の国は自国民の生命と安全を守るために、ワクチン確保に奔走していた。

 その辺りの、国際的な状況が英字新聞の載っていた。面白いので、各国のワクチン争奪戦についての記事を時事英語授業で扱った。
 米国の自国内生産量は国民の20%分である。イギリスはゼロ%である。生産国はドイツや東欧など限られた国しか生産していない。製薬メーカは統合を繰り返したために、生産拠点を生産費の安い国へ移した。したがって、本社所在国で生産しているわけではない。いざとなったときに、生産国が自国民に優先接種するために輸出制限すればアウトである。そのあたりの事情を7月19日のジャパンタイムズ紙がロンドンAPの配信記事として載せている。
 争奪戦が始まっているのに、日本の厚生労働省はこの当時動いていなかった。舛添元厚生労働大臣の大失態である。
 以下に、その記事を転載する。
 URL http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31944668/ns/health-swine_flu/

Fight for swine flu vaccine could get ugly

Countries, including U.S., could be left scrambling for shots, experts warn
updated 11:59 a.m. ET July 16, 2009

LONDON - An ugly scramble is brewing over the swine flu vaccine — and when it becomes available, Britain, the United States and other nations could find that the contracts they signed with pharmaceutical companies are easily broken.

Experts warn that during a global epidemic, which the world is in now, governments may be under tremendous pressure to protect their own citizens first before allowing companies to ship doses of vaccine out of the country.

That does not bode well for many countries, including the United States, which makes only 20 percent of the flu vaccines it uses, or Britain, where all of its flu vaccines are produced abroad.

"This isn't rocket science," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "If there is severe disease, countries will want to hang onto the vaccine for their own citizens."

Experts say politicians would not be able to withstand the pressure.

"The consequences of shipping vaccine to another country when your own people don't have it would be devastating," added David Fedson, a retired vaccine industry executive.

About 70 percent of the world's flu vaccines are made in Europe, and only a handful of countries are self-sufficient in vaccines. The U.S. has limited flu vaccine facilities, and because factories can't be built overnight, there is no quick fix to boost vaccine supplies.

Last week, the World Health Organization reported nearly 95,000 cases of swine flu including 429 deaths worldwide. If swine flu turns deadlier in the winter, the main flu season in the Northern Hemisphere, countries will likely be clamoring for any available vaccines.

"Pandemic vaccine will be a valuable and scarce resource, like oil or food during a famine," said David Fidler, a professor of law at Indiana University who has consulted for WHO. "We've seen how countries behave in those situations, and it's not encouraging."

Americans expecting widespread outbreak
Meanwhile, a new survey finds about three out of five Americans believe there will be widespread swine flu cases this fall or winter, but most are not worried it will make them sick.

The results of the survey were released Thursday by the Harvard School of Public Health.

About 60 percent of people surveyed say they are not worried they will get sick from swine flu, a finding that echoes what was found in a similar survey in May. The telephone survey of more than 1,800 U.S. adults was done in late June.

Britain claims it will start vaccinating people in August, Italy says it will begin by the end of the year, and many other countries have similar strategies. Those mass vaccination plans could be derailed by problems making the vaccine and by other countries' refusal to ship it abroad.

If the virus remains mild, this could all be moot. Experts estimate swine flu to be about as dangerous as seasonal flu, and there usually isn't a high demand for those vaccines. Still, regular flu kills up to 500,000 people a year.

In past pandemics, or global epidemics, vaccines were never exported before the country that produced them got enough for its own population first.

Unlike the last two pandemics in 1957 and 1968, however, many more countries this time around have struck deals with companies which they say guarantees them first access to vaccine. Yet in a global health emergency, those contracts may ultimately be meaningless.

Contract not binding law
Countries with flu vaccine plants might decide to seize all vaccines and ban their export, thus breaking the pharmaceutical contracts promising other countries vaccine supplies. These private contracts are not binding international law between two countries, according to Fidler.

He said most vaccine contracts include a clause allowing them to be broken under extraordinary circumstances, such as a health emergency. That would leave the countries who had brokered such deals not only without vaccine, but without legal recourse.

"There's nothing in international law that helps you resolve this, it's just a political nightmare happening in the midst of an epidemiological nightmare," Fidler said.

Britain has ordered 60 million doses, enough to cover its entire population. But those doses are being manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Baxter International Inc., whose production plants are in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Neither Britain's department of health or the vaccine manufacturers would comment on delivery plans.

Osterholm said about 80 percent of the United States' pandemic vaccine supply will be coming from abroad and he is very concerned about when it might arrive. Timing could be everything to avoid a vaccine spat.

"It's easy to move vaccine around if the disease is relatively mild. But if it is more severe, countries may not be willing to let it go," he said.

So far, swine flu remains a relatively mild disease, and most people don't need medical treatment to get better. But experts fear the virus could mutate into a more dangerous form. And during the flu season, when the virus spreads more easily, more people will probably fall sick and die.

Public health officials are aware that so-called "vaccine wars" might break out if the swine flu outbreak worsens, but are loathe to even discuss the topic.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, an agency of the European Union, said it had no mandate to advise countries in such circumstances. WHO said it was not aware of any countries planning to block the shipment of vaccines and said they would work to ensure all countries get enough doses to protect their health workers.

 

Questions also remain about when a swine flu vaccine will even be available, as WHO reported this week that a fully licensed vaccine might not be ready until the end of the year.


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サリー

ワクチン戦争ですか。
ウィルスは核より怖いかも、ですね。
by サリー (2009-11-07 16:40) 

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