Swine flu scare was exaggerated, says WHO

A top official of the World Health Organization (WHO) today admitted that the global swine flu scare was unnecessarily exaggerated, an allegation the international body faced when the killer disease claimed thousands of lives in several countries including India.

"Yes, yes," said Dr Samlee Pilanbangchang, regional director, South-East Asia, WHO, when asked whether the swine flu scare was unnecessarily exaggerated. He was addressing a function here on the eve of World Health Day.

WHO was criticised last year for its handling of the swine flu pandemic and was accused of exaggerating the danger of the virus under pressure from different countries and drug manufacturers.

The organisation is responsible for actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with its regional offices and member states and through monitoring of multiple sources of information.

According to WHO, worldwide more than 213 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1, including over 17,483 deaths.

Dr Pilanbangchang said, "When we look out at health globally, H1N1 is a big challenge. We are also trying to control it."

Of the 17,483 deaths deaths reported worldwide, maximum cases were reported from America with 8,175 deaths here till date.

This was followed by 4,669 deaths in Europe, 1727 in Western Pacific region, 1726 in South-East Asian region, 1019 in Eastern Mediterranean region, and 167 deaths have been reported in the Africa region.