The swine flu marathon

The new strain of swine influenza has become a global pandemic and will inevitably spread even further.

Margaret Chan, the World Health Organization’s director-general, announced the disease is now a pandemic and raised the alert level from Phase 5 to the maximum Phase 6.

The last great pandemic, called the Hong Kong flu, struck 41 years ago in 1968. The emergence of a new type of influenza had been seen as inevitable. ...

The WHO decided to raise the alert level due to the constant increase in human-to-human transmissions in Australia, now that the Southern Hemisphere has entered the usual flu-prone season of winter. ...

We must not let our guard down.

Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s assistant director-general for health security and environment, suggests that the battle against the pandemic should be likened to running a marathon. ...

In line with the marathon reference, all countries and all people of the world will take part in this race.

The virus will infect many of them sooner or later.

Moreover, this is a marathon in which all countries and individuals must work together to reach the same goal. ...

With this in mind, Japan must actively participate in international assistance. We must pay attention to developing countries and help them with treatment and research. ...

The WHO says countries where the infection has spread should divert their resources from time-consuming inspections and tests to treatment of patients and damage control.

Is Japan prepared for this?

The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo