# 2160
Tonight we have two takes on a story out of the UK, where a House of Lords committee has heard evidence of the inevitability of another pandemic, and criticisms of the WHO's (World Health Organization) global surveillance and containment strategies.
Follow the links to read the entire articles. The first one is more in depth than the second.
Here is the Independent's Coverage of this story.
World warned over killer flu pandemic
By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent
Monday, 21 July 2008
The world is failing to guard against the inevitable spread of a devastating flu pandemic which could kill 50 million people and wreak massive disruption around the globe, the Government has warned.
In evidence to a House of Lords committee, ministers said that early warning systems for spotting emerging diseases were "poorly co-ordinated" and lacked "vision" and "clarity". They said that more needed to be done to improve detection and surveillance for potential pandemics and called for urgent improvement in rapid-response strategies.
The Government's evidence appeared in a highly critical report from the Lords Intergovernmental Organisations Committee, which attacked the World Health Organisation (WHO) as "dysfunctional" and criticised the international response to the threat of an outbreak of disease which could sweep across the globe.
The Government said: "While there has not been a pandemic since 1968, another one is inevitable." Ministers said it would could kill between two and 50 million people worldwide and that such an outbreak would leave up to 75,000 people dead in Britain and cause "massive" disruption.
This is how the Daily Telegraph is reporting this story.
Disease pandemic 'inevitable' in Britian warns House of Lords
By Andrew Porter, Political Editor
Last Updated: 11:49PM BST 20/07/2008
Britain faces an "inevitable" disease pandemic which will kill up to 75,000 people, says a powerful Lords Committee.
Changes in lifestyle are leading to new infections and providing them with opportunities to spread rapidly, the report warns.
An outbreak in Britain will cause "massive" disruption, it concludes. More should be done to provide early warnings.
The Lords intergovernmental organisations committee says the "dysfunctional" World Health Organisation needs to be better organised to cope with the threat. The peers describe the Government's evidence to it as "sobering".
