Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-25-Speech-2-063"
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"en.20051025.4.2-063"2
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".
Mr President, I will try to reply to most of the questions.
On culling, that is something we wish to avoid, but we have to take account of the safety issue. We advise that this be done through animal welfare measures regarding poultry. However, unless we have strong scientific evidence for such a measure, I would not support the culling of wild birds.
The daily warning system works very well. The European Centre for Disease Control is very active in this effort. Member States and the Commission are linked together in an effective way with an early warning system and are in contact and cooperation with the WHO.
Yesterday in the Council we also discussed the issue of compensation for farmers. Eradication measures are financed or co-financed by the Commission, but the compensation for loss of profit or market is a matter being discussed in the Agriculture Council.
There has been a reference to Spanish flu, but we are much better prepared now. We have antibiotics, we have the health care system, we have doctors and other measures that we can take. I therefore believe that, with the right effort, we can minimise the number of deaths in the event of a pandemic. I will inform Parliament whenever we have anything new to report.
It is true that we had a simulation exercise last week for smallpox. It was mostly focused on the possibility of a bioterrorist attack. However, the reaction is more or less the same. We will be able to see, from the results of that exercise, what the weaknesses are in the whole system and, hopefully, correct them in time for the influenza exercise in a few weeks’ time. The purpose of the exercises is to detect mistakes and weaknesses and correct them.
I did not mention much on the veterinary side because that is to do with the pandemic stage. However, I should give some information regarding wild birds. Today the Commission is proposing to discuss with the standing committee the ban on imports of wild captive birds to the European Union. We feel that is a precautionary measure that we need to take today for a temporary period. Our experts will then review it and decide if it needs to remain in place.
On the solidarity front, the regulation has not been adopted yet by either Parliament or Council. The idea of that regulation is to reimburse the cost of use of antivirals or vaccines in the event of a pandemic. If the Council and Parliament decide that it has to be readjusted to deal with purchases and precautionary measures, then that is something we can discuss.
The international aspect is very important. I mentioned that last time. I will be travelling to South-East Asia – the most affected area – to talk to the authorities there. Nevertheless, there have been some developments. In November we will have the Geneva meeting with support from the WHO, FAO, OIE and the World Bank. There is no reason for duplication, but we must support the international initiatives that have been started by those organisations. The Geneva conference will assess the needs – financing and other technical needs – to meet this challenge and will be followed by a pledging conference early next year. That is the important conference, where funds should be pledged to support the most affected countries in this effort.
Seasonal vaccination is the correct approach, but it involves an investment towards increasing the manufacturing capacity and will at the same time help the groups at risk to deal with this problem.
On the issue of communication, it is very important that we maintain transparency; it is very important that we inform our citizens about the exact situation. Sometimes the media exaggerate. That is a risk we have to take. However, any suspicion of a cover-up or of hiding information will have the worst results and that will cause panic. I admit that there was some panic, but it was not the Commission, nor any European institution, nor any European government that linked avian flu last summer, almost as a certainty, to a pandemic.
At the same time – as mentioned in your resolution – the WHO believes that the influenza pandemic will happen in the near future. It is therefore natural that people are worried. The only way to deal with that panic is not by not giving information but by explaining what we are doing to deal with this issue. We need both national and Community plans. Each country has its own peculiarities, so each country needs to have its own plan, but we have a Community plan. Last year we established such a plan, which coordinates and links the national plans with the Community in order to achieve coordination.
As to avian flu, we will have more outbreaks. We have to be realistic about that. We should not panic or transmit panic every time there is a dead wild bird found on a farm with signs of the virus. That will happen. We have the system and the legislation in place, and we will use them. The CVOs meet regularly, contact farmers and advise them about what they should do."@en1
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