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Published online 13 May 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.478

News: Q&A

Marie-Paule Kieny

The vaccine research director of the World Health Organization, on swine flu.

Declan Butler

The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening its top committee of vaccine experts on 14 May to recommend on whether companies should make a vaccine against the H1N1 swine-associated influenza virus. Declan Butler asked Marie-Paule Kieny, director of the WHO's Initiative for Vaccine Research, about the options and challenges on the table.

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  • If the poor and the powerless are first in line to receive the vaccine, then the rich and the powerful will have ample incentive to see there is enough vaccine for all. Free market motivation or otherwise, the initial conditions we apply make a world of difference.

    • 14 May, 2009
    • Posted by: Derek Harmon

  • to the moderator Remember that judging content as inappropriate seems to be an excuse for censorship, when it comes to WHO which I personally deem as a worthless squandering of funding. Remember also that our comments are a privilege, which we the users, conditionally extend to you.

    • 15 May, 2009
    • Posted by: Mark Cristian