A number of MEPs from the large political groups called, on 9 March, for an European Parliament committee of inquiry to review management of the H1N1 flu pandemic by the European Union and its institutions.

They said the committee should study the role of the EUhave to be approved within two weeks by one fourth of MEPs, ie 183. At the time this request was announced, early in the afternoon of 9 March in Strasbourg, 14 members were presen

“Parliamentary committees were created in the wake of the BSE [mad cow disease] crisis and after the Equitable Life financial scandal. Considering the billions spent by member states to address the H1N1 issue, it is right for the European Parliament to investigate,” declared Michèle Rivasi (Greens-EFA, France). She particularly singled out the disproportionate response to the disease, “which was not even a pandemic,” and the use of “costly and insufficiently tested” medicines as a result. Marina Yannakoudakis (ECR, UK) added that the idea is not to identify a guilty party but to “learn the lessons for next time [...] Because there will be a next time and things could be much more serious”.

To come into existence, the committee of inquiry would have to be approved within two weeks by one fourth of MEPs, ie 183. At the time this request was announced, early in the afternoon of 9 March in Strasbourg, 14 members were present.

On 28 February, the date of its latest assessment, the World Health Organisation (WHO) identified cases of H1N1 in more than 213 countries and 16,455 fatalities.

18 mn euro for research

The same day, the European Commission announced four collaborative research projects. With funding of 18 million euro, they bring to more than 100 million euro the total amount invested in flu research since 2001. “Seasonal flu alone can kill 250,000 to 500,000 people worldwide every year and EU-funded research projects like these can save lives,” declared the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Fifty-two research institutes and SMEs from 18 European countries and three international partners (Israel, China and the United States) will be involved. Two consortia will focus their research on influenza in pigs (the ‘Flupig’ project, aimed at better understanding the role played by pigs, and Esnip3, which will maintain and extend the surveillance network for influenza in pigs) and two others will develop innovative medicines to treat human flu (the Flu-pharm and Flu-cure consortia).