# 572
The standoff between the WHO (World Health Organization) and Indonesia continues unabated, with news today that Indonesia won't release their viral samples until a legally binding agreement is reached that guarantee's the samples will not be used to develop an expensive commercial vaccine.
Indonesia refuses to share bird flu samples with WHO without legally binding agreement
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesia will not share bird flu samples with the World Health Organization without a legally binding agreement promising the virus won't be used to develop an expensive commercial vaccine, the health minister said Tuesday.
Siti Fadilah Supari, digging her heels in following a weekslong standoff with the global body, said a letter of guarantee from WHO's director general Margaret Chan late last month was not good enough.
"We will not share the virus before there is a Material Transfer Agreement," she told reporters, adding that she hoped one would be drafted during a bird flu meeting in Jakarta in late March between Asia Pacific health leaders and WHO.
Several countries are developing vaccines to protect against H5N1, the bird flu virus strain blamed for 167 human deaths worldwide - more than a third of them in Indonesia.
