(CIDRAP News) – An independent review of the United Kingdom's response to the H1N1 pandemic gave the government good marks for the way it handled the outbreak, but said the experience yielded useful lessons for the next such health emergency, such as including break clauses in all future vaccine contracts.
(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released draft guidance to help reduce resistance to antibiotics used to treat humans—such as penicillin, tetracycline, and macrolides—with more careful use of the drugs in food-producing animals
The agency seeks stakeholder input to help plan its next steps.
(CIDRAP News) The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) voted overwhelmingly today to endorse its health committee's controversial report that criticizes the handling of the H1N1 pandemic by the World Health Organization and European governments.
(CIDRAP News) Federal officials today allowed the public health emergency declaration that was prompted by the H1N1 influenza outbreak last year to lapse, signaling an end to emergency authorizations for certain special uses of antiviral drugs and other items.
(CIDRAP News) – An informatics expert from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today spoke with clinicians about possible public health connections to electronic medical records, which she said could have been useful during the H1N1 pandemic and might ease information flow during future public health events.
The discussion follows recent federal investments to promote greater use of health information technology.
(CIDRAP News) More than half of workers without paid sick days went to work when they had an infectious illness such as the flu, compared with 37% of those with paid leave, according to a report today from a nonprofit group that also found strong support for legislating paid sick days.
(CIDRAP News) – Federal officials looked to the relatively new model of school-based immunization clinics as an efficient way to deliver the pandemic vaccine to children, and a report from clinic observers detailed that the process worked well, though most schools would need more resources to hold future clinics.
(CIDRAP News) The World Health Organization (WHO) replied at greater length today to recent criticism of the way it used science advisors in pandemic planning, defending its response to the H1N1 flu pandemic but allowing that its policies concerning transparency and relations with the pharmaceutical industry need strengthening.
(CIDRAP News) Prompted by congressional hearings into foodborne illness outbreaks and the state of the nation's food safety system, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) today released its report on the US Food and Drug Administration's role, saying the agency needs a clear path to a risk-based strategy that delegates more inspection duties to states.
(CIDRAP News) An article published by the British Medical Journal says three scientists who helped frame World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on pandemic influenza preparedness had consulted for pharmaceutical companies that stood to profit from the WHO guidance and that the WHO did not disclose the scientists' industry ties.
