Give Canada's excess flu vaccine to developing world: Experts

OTTAWA -- The Canadian government should donate any surplus swine flu vaccine to poorer countries, say ethicists and medical specialists who are warning that a "me-first" mentality among rich countries will doom efforts to combat the global pandemic.

They say Canada and other wealthy countries should follow the lead of GlaxoSmithKline Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis, two of the world's major vaccine manufacturers. In response to an appeal from the World Health Organization, those companies plan to donate at least of 150 million doses of H1N1 vaccine for distribution in the developing world.

"I'm trying to get people to understand we are moving into an arena of global ethics, and if we keep thinking borders don't matter in the way we do, ultimately we are going to hurt ourselves," said Francoise Baylis, a bioethics specialist at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

"We haven't yet come to an understanding that the community is all of us. It's not about whether I am going to protect me within my borders. Viruses know nothing about borders."

Though WHO appealed publicly for pharmaceutical companies to donate 10 per cent of their production to poorer countries, it has opted to work behind the scenes to seek donations from individual countries.

No country has yet made a public commitment, said WHO spokeswoman Aphaluck Bhatiasevi from Geneva.

The vaccine, which is still being developed, is expected to be ready in mid-November, Canadian officials have said.

Asked directly whether Canada is prepared to donate any surplus vaccine, the Conservative government - which has purchased 50.4 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine for Canadians from GlaxoSmithKline - ruled nothing in or out.

"Canada is committed to collaborating with the World Health Organization to assess the need for support in the developing countries," said a statement provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Baylis said Canada's 50 million doses should be more than enough to handle the number of people who want and need the vaccine. Assuming two doses of vaccine are needed per person, there is enough for 75 per cent of Canada's 35 million people.

The expectation at this point is that only about 60 per cent of the population will want to be vaccinated, she said, meaning a surplus is likely.

Liberals and New Democrats say they're prepared to push the government to step up to the plate.

"Canadians have long understood that on this tiny planet we're only as safe as the whole planet," said Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, the party's health critic.

Bennett said Canadian authorities should know by Christmas how much vaccine will be needed, and whether people should have one or two doses.

Paul Dewar, the NDP's foreign affairs critic, said securing supplies for the world's needy is both good public policy and good global ethics.

"It would be very misguided and cheap to say, 'No, we're just going to take care of our own,' " he said in an interview. "I don't think Canadians want to be that way."

Dr. Noni MacDonald, a Halifax-based consultant to WHO on vaccine safety, described the issue of who gets the vaccine as a pressing moral challenge.

"You can't just say those that are the first in line and have the most money should go first," said MacDonald, a pediatrics and infectious disease specialist at Dalhousie. "You can't just say we'll protect all of ours. You have to look at how you damp down infection around the world."