Row at WHO meet over future of smallpox virus samples

Now, this may be a late news, but it is worth keeping (and reading)...
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Posted: 23 May 2011

GENEVA - The World Health Organisation on Monday held a stormy discussion over the future of smallpox virus samples, which Russia and the United States are seeking to preserve while others want them destroyed.

The question surrounding the destruction of the last official stocks of the deadly virus held by the US and Russian laboratories has been recurring at the WHO since 1986.

Washington and Moscow want the viruses kept for scientific reasons, saying that it is necessary to continue research on their vaccines in order to prevent any resurgence of the transmissible disease which was eradicated in 1979.

They fear, in particular, that countries may have secretly kept the virus to be used as a biological weapon.

In a draft resolution put forward on Monday to the 193 WHO member states, Russia and the US once again sought to conserve the samples, and wanted to begin discussing a possible date for their destruction only in five years.

"We feel that we do not have sufficient guarantees on the efficiency and the preparation of the vaccines," explained the Russian envoy.

"Destruction will be irreversible," he added, noting that it is necessary to be "doubly prudent on a question that concerns security of all humanity."

"After the research, we can determine a date," he added.

The European Union, Canada, Israel, Monaco, Colombia and China were among countries that supported the move.

However, some 20 countries, including north African states, Iran, Thailand, Zimbabwe and Malaysia, were strongly against the resolution, saying that immediate destruction of the virus must be imposed.

"There is no longer scientific justification to keep these viruses," said a Malaysian diplomat.

"It's been 30 years since we agreed to keep the stocks," noted an Iranian envoy. "It is about time to fix a definitive date" to eradicate them.

Amid the discord, the WHO decided to create a working group to work towards a compromise draft later Monday.

- AFP/al


Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Row at WHO meet over future of smallpox virus samples

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US weapon-makers look overseas as the Pentagon cuts back

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WASHINGTON - With the United States looking to cut defence costs and rethinking the way it fights wars, many American defence contractors are looking for international buyers for the big, pricey weapons the Pentagon no longer wants or needs.

Boeing and Lockheed Martin are competing to sell fighter planes to countries such as India and Brazil. Boeing is trying to spark international interest in its C-17 cargo plane. Middle Eastern nations fearful of threats from Iran are bulking up on missile defence equipment from Lockheed and Raytheon.

"This is a world market right now,'' said Boeing's president of military aircraft, Chris Chadwick.

Globalisation is nothing new for many US industries, which often use overseas operations and sales to tap into fast-growing areas like China and as a hedge against domestic downturns. But the defence industry is closely tethered to one primary buyer, the American government.

It has been a lucrative relationship. Defence spending is up more than 40 per cent over the past eight years, fuelled in part by spending on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the US military is cutting back on weapon spending. Last year, the US military spent US$164 billion ($237 billion) to buy weapons. For the 2010 fiscal year, the Pentagon proposes spending only US$131 billion.

Overseas arms sales represent a relatively small segment of defence contractor sales. But many are turning to the global markets for growth now that the appetite for big and expensive weapons is waning in the US.

The push is helped by countries worried about security threats from nations such as North Korea and Iran. Many European allies need to upgrade their ageing equipment, and are turning to American firms as likely suppliers.

New markets have also emerged. Iraq was the second largest potential buyer of US military equipment last year, behind Israel, according to a March report by the Arms Control Association, a Washington think-tank. AP

From TODAY, World –Monday, 15-Jun-2009

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