Identify and address any obstacles that disadvantaged groups may face in benefiting from preparedness plans.
Experts from U.S. universities, Southeast Asian nations and organizations such as CARE International, Human Rights Watch, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and others participated in the Bellagio Meeting. The group encourages policymakers to download the Bellagio Statement of Principles and the checklists at www.bioethicsinstitute.org. The materials are available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Since the meeting of experts was held July 24-28, 2006, additional cases of (H5N1) avian influenza have been reported.
"While avian and human pandemic influenza planning and response should be based on sound science and public health principles, attention should also be paid to the needs and rights of the disadvantaged," said Ruth Karron, MD, professor of International Health and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "That hasn't really happened on a widespread scale yet, and is in part what prompted the Bellagio meeting in the first place."
"There is much work to do, and it will not be easy," said Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, which sponsored the meeting. "With the Bellagio Statement of Principles, we have a better sense of how we might move forward to prevent or at least mitigate unjust outcomes for the world's most vulnerable populations. It's not only better public policy, bu
'"/>
Contact: Ed Bodensiek
ebodensiek@jhu.edu
410-516-8523
Johns Hopkins University
29-Sep-2006