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JAKARTA : Indonesia agreed to resume sharing its bird flu virus samples with the World Health Organization (WHO) Friday under condition that developing countries will have equal access to an affordable vaccine, officials from both sides said.
"We agree to responsible sharing practices and we're going to do it soon," Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari told reporters.
She said that a proposal would be drawn up that would be fair and guarantee access for any products resulting from the sharing of samples to other developing countries.
The country hardest-hit by bird flu is worried that large drug companies will use its H5N1 strain to make vaccines that will be too expensive for developing nations in the event of a global pandemic that could kill millions.
Jakarta drew criticism earlier this month when it said it would withhold samples of its bird flu virus from WHO unless an agreement was reached on commercial development of a vaccine.
"The (health) minister has assured WHO they would not hold WHO hostage to the virus," David Heymann, a top WHO bird flu official, said after talks Friday in the Indonesian capital with the Indonesian health minister and other senior government officials.
"They will share the virus for global public health services."
They said after the meeting that selected countries in the Asia-Pacific region would meet in March in Jakarta to identify mechanisms that would help ensure equitable access to influenza vaccine and its production.
"Until then, Indonesia will not share it," Supari said after the meeting.
Several countries are developing vaccines to protect against H5N1, the strain of bird flu responsible for 167 human deaths worldwide, including an Egyptian woman who died Friday.
More than one-third of the deaths have been in Indonesia. - CNA/ch
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