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LATIN AMERICA |
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Brazil Earmarks $1.18 Billion to Battle
Swine Flu
BRASILIA – The Brazilian government will
allocate $1.18 billion for the purchase of
vaccine and diagnostic material against the
AH1N1 flu virus that has so far caused the
death of 899 people in this country,
officials said Tuesday.
A decree published in the official gazette
said that the vaccine, diagnostic material
and other equipment will be purchased during
the coming months in order to have
“redoubled protection” before next winter in
the Southern Hemisphere, when another wave
of the flu is expected.
The Butantan Institute, a laboratory
belonging to the Sao Paulo state government,
is working on the production of a vaccine
against the new virus and estimates that by
the beginning of next year it will have
stockpiled some 18 million doses.
Authorities say that guinea-pig trials of
the vaccine will begin this month and,
depending on the results, experiments with
humans will follow.
The World Health Organization says that
Brazil, with 899 deaths, leads the world in
swine-flu fatalities. More than 4,100 have
died worldwide, according to the latest WHO
figures.
Even so, the mortality rate of the illness
in Brazil up to now stands at 0.46 deaths
per 100,000 inhabitants, behind four other
countries that have registered fewer deaths:
Argentina (514), Australia (171), Chile
(132) and Paraguay (52). EFE
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