Health experts on Monday begin examining the controversial response to the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century, nearly a year after global alarm was raised over the new swine flu strain.
The World Health Organisation is forming a panel of 29 external experts following accusations that the agency-led international reaction to A(H1N1) influenza was overblown and may have been tainted by commercial interests.
After the formative three-day meeting, the International Health Regulations review committee's work is expected to take about nine months, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said.
WHO Special Adviser on Pandemic Influenza Keiji Fukuda recently admitted that "we still have a lot of things to learn," including the way the risks posed by swine flu are communicated to the public.
However, specialists broadly defended the alarm over the discovery of A(H1N1) cases in Mexico and the United States in April 2009 as well as the WHO's declaration of a pandemic in June as the flu swiftly spread around the world.
"I think they gave a terrific lead and were very authoritative. I think we have a lot to thank them for," John Oxford, a virologist and professor at the Queen Mary?s School of Medicine and Dentistry in Britain, told AFP.
"A lot of the criticism is political. I've not heard criticism from any virologist," he added, also highlighting the need to cater for impoverished countries with poor surveillance, care and health conditions.
Parliamentarians conducting a Council of Europe probe have criticised the transparency of decision-making and especially the potential influence of the pharmaceutical industry on a decision last year to press for vaccination.
That inquiry was set up after several governments sought to cancel mass orders of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of swiftly developed special pandemic vaccines after fears about the severity of swine flu died down.
Although specialists also acknowledged flaws, they insisted that vaccines were an essential weapon with the virus expected to surge again in forthcoming flu seasons.
"There's a tendency to have a post mortem at this stage but the patient is not dead," Oxford remarked.
David Heymann, a former head of infectious diseases at the WHO who left the agency in early 2009, voiced concern about public reticence towards vaccination in generally healthy Western populations.
"They're perceptions that have to be overcome -- people have to understand that when there is a vaccine, they should take it," he told AFP, insisting on its value to protect the most vulnerable.
Fukuda did not rule out that some scientists in the review may have industry links, despite concerns raised about potential conflicts of interest in other flu-related WHO scientific panels.
"We do not want people who have just theoretical experience but really people who have also their own understanding of how things went," he said, underlining that much medical research was led by the private sector.
Hartl said panel members will be asked to declare their interests.
The response to swine flu has been dogged by doubts since the early stages.
By the WHO's annual assembly in May 2009, several health ministers publicly urged Director General Margaret Chan not to rush into declaring a pandemic, highlighting relatively mild symptoms and public doubts.
Heymann, chairman of Britain's Health Protection Agency, suggested ways should be found to take into account severity of disease in pandemic alerts that primarily denote global geographic spread.
"The trouble is that early on, if you don't know the disease well, you have to take the most stringent measures," he cautioned.
Heymann and Oxford also emphasised that the effort was hampered by poor knowledge about the origins of A(H1N1) and its path from animals into humans, a general surveillance flaw that Chan also acknowledged last week.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
