WHO says A/H1N1 pandemic real, not fake

GENEVA, Jan. 2010 -- The World Health Organization (WHO)on Thursday rejected allegations that the A/H1N1 pandemic is "fake", stressing that it has not overplayed the risks of this new influenza.

"The world is going through a real pandemic. The description of it as fake is both wrong and irresponsible," said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the U.N. agency's top pandemic expert, at a telephone press conference.

Fukuda stressed that the WHO has been balanced in providing information to the public about the pandemic, and it "has not underplayed or overplayed the risks of the pandemic."

"The WHO has reached out to all parties who could help to reduce the harms of the pandemic. We did take very great care to make sure that its advice received and not unduely influenced by commercial or non-public health interests," he said.

So far about 13,000 people worldwide has been killed directly by the H1N1 flu virus, which first emerged in April, 2009 in North America, but this is only the laboratory-confirmed number, and the real number could be much higher, said Fukuda.

Source : www.chinaview.cn