US demands royalties on pandemic vaccines as thousands more fall ill with influenza A(H1N1) Mexican swine flu

An image of the influenza A(H1N1), or Mexican swine flu, virus

An intergovernmental meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has failed to reach an agreement on sharing influenza virus research material and access to vaccines, with the US placing profits ahead of the threat of wide-scale, world-wide deaths from the current influenza A(H1N1), or Mexican swine flu, pandemic.

The impasse occurred despite a warning by Dr Thirawat Hemachudha, director of the World Health Organisation’s Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on Viral Zoonoses, that a second wave of the A(H1N1) influenza virus, or Mexican swine flu as it was originally termed, could occur as early as July.

In the past week the number of people infected by the influenza A(H1N1) virus has risen sharply, with the United States recording the highest number of cases, followed by Mexico where the pandemic began.

On Saturday the WHO reported an additional seven deaths, raising the number of people killed by the influenza A(H1N1) virus to 72, with 1,000 new confirmed cases reported in the previous 24 hours.

India, Turkey, Japan, Ecuador, Peru, Belgium, Cuba, Finland and Thailand have all confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1) in the last week.

According to Dr Thirawat, “the current situation is like a warning sign, reminding us that the big wave is coming. According to scientific records, the second wave should happen between two months to two years [after the initial outbreak].”

As the number of people infected by the influenza A(H1N1) virus hit almost 8,500 cases in 38 countries, the two-day WHO meeting concluded with poorer countries dissatisfied with the stance of the US.

Indonesia, one of the countries hit in the outbreak, wanted vaccines produced by industrialised countries shared with developing nations which do not have the means to produce enough doses in case of a global pandemic.

Poor countries argued they should have access to the resulting vaccines, especially if the samples used to develop them came from the developing world. However, US delegates balked at this, insisting pharmaceutical companies should be able to claim the vaccines as intellectual property and earn royalties on them.

A map showing the spread of the influenza A(H1N1) or Mexican swine flue, virus since April 18, 2009. Image courtesy HealthMap (http://healthmap.org/en)

Coinciding with this, Japan confirmed 13 students at a high school in the western city of Kobe had tested positive for influenza A(H1N1), bringing the total number of confirmed cases there to 25.

In nearby Osaka city there are nine suspected cases from one high school, with about 100 additional students in the same school reporting symptoms such as fever.

The continued spread of influenza A(H1N1), for which no effective treatment is currently available, prompted former WHO senior official Shigeru Omi, who heads the Japanese government’s special swine flu task force to warn, “we believe that the infection is beginning to spread in the region.”

Though the WHO meeting had been planned for some time, it took on new urgency with the current outbreak.

Mexican swine flu, or influenza A(H1N1) as it was renamed, leapt into the spotlight on April 24, when the WHO announced around 800 suspected cases had been recorded in Mexico, along with seven cases in the US.

Five days later the WHO raised its alert level to five, calling on countries to prepare for an “imminent” pandemic.

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© John Le Fevre, 2009

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Traders riot in Bangkok’s Patpong tourist precinct – tourists scurry for cover as shots fired

Police attempt to calm-down Patpong night market street vendors who rioted when their counterfeit goods were confiscated. Photo John Le Fevre

Bangkok’s notorious nightlife district of Patpong was turned into a battle ground last night (May 6, 2009) as hundreds of night-market traders rioted against Thai police.

Police order Patpong night market vendors who had rioted against counterfeit goods being impounded to disperse. Photo John Le Fevre

A whole in the underside of a roof awning on Patpong Road that night market traders say was the result of police shooting into the air when vendors rioted over counterfeit goods being seized. Photo John Le Fevre

The angry scene erupted when Thai police and government officers moved into the well known entertainment and night market area in search of counterfeit goods and began impounding knock-off products.

Hundreds of holidaymakers shopping in the popular night market were sent fleeing as police fired warning shots into the air during a running battle with vendors angry at having counterfeit goods confiscated.

The rioting continued across busy Surawongse Road into the forecourt of the four-star Montien Hotel where police were subjected to a barrage of bottles thrown by the traders trying to retrieve their goods.

Guests at the luxurious hotel were forced to seek shelter inside the hotel and were unable to leave or enter for over an hour as the battle raged-on outside the entrance.

The angry traders slashed the tyres and broke the windscreen and side windows of a number of vehicles during the rioting, leaving the forecourt and entrance littered with broken glass and debris.

One of the vehicles carrying government officers that was attacked by Patpong night market traders. Photo John Le Fevre

The crackdown on counterfeit goods comes less than a week after the US federal administration said it would keep Thailand on a priority watch list of what it considers a “dirty dozen” nations that have failed to crack down on copyright and patent violations.

The annual report by the US Trade Representative last week noted that Thailand ‘has not made sufficient progress’ in combatting various kinds of intellectual property rights (IPR) offences.

The Patpong Road area was one of five Bangkok landmarks specifically highlighted in the report, with the others being the giant Mahboonkrong (MBK) shopping centre, the Pantip Plaza technology mall, Klong Thom and what is termed the upper area of Sukhumvit Road.

Following the announcement by the US last week, Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva acknowledged his country has not effectively dealt with intellectual property rights violations and pledged the government would work harder to address the issues and lobby Washington to upgrade Thailand’s status.

ENDS:
© John Le Fevre, 2009

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Thailand tourism industry prioritised to lead 2009 recovery as economy shrinks 5%

Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva

Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has targeted the Thailand tourism industry as a priority for reviving the Thai economy in 2009  in a speech to members of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council (Nesac).

In his policies for solving economic and social problems speech, Mr Abhisit said the government needed to boost Thailand’s economy via tourism, with diversified campaigns aimed at attracting more tourists.

He said since the yellow shirt Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) seizure of Suvarnabhumi Airort last year that had standard hundreds of thousands of international tourists to Thailand there had been a drastic cut in the number of foreign tourists to Thailand.

The highlighting of Thailand’s tourism industry as being vital to the economic revival of the Thai economy by Mr Abhisit comes only days after the Government set a budget of Bt5 billion (about $US141.743 million) in the form of five year soft loans for small tourism operators.

Mr Abhisit also said the government is currently drafting a second economic stimulus package worth Bt1.5 trillion (about $US42.523 billion) for projects to be implemented over the next three years, with emphasis on infrastructure, education, public health and the development of water resources.

He said priority will be given to assisting Thailand’s tourism industry which has been particularly hard-hit by ongoing political unrest.

Last week Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC), predicted the ongoing political turmoil in Thailand would cost the Thailand tourism industry between Bt50 billion and Bt100 billion (about $US1.4 billion to $US2.8 billion) in lost revenue.

According to KRC, if the political turbulence ends quickly Thailand tourism industry losses could be limited to about Bt50 billion, but if the situation remained unstable they could easily double this figure.

That Thailand’s tourism industry has been decimated by the ongoing political unrest is not disputed. Foreign tourist arrivals to Thailand in the first quarter of 2009 were 16 per cent lower than in 2008 and a drop of up to 35 per cent for this quarter is expected. KRC said it expects the Thailand tourism industry to recover slightly in the third quarter, forecasting a drop of only 25 per cent or about 11.7 million foreign tourist arrivals for this year – a drop of almost 20 per cent on 2008.

The think-tank forecast the Thailand tourism industry will generate revenue of about Bt380 billion (about $US10.9 billion) in 2009, a fall of 27 per cent on the 2008 figure of Bt540 billion (about $US15.23 billion).

The KRC forecast is more modest that that of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), which last week said the Thailand tourism industry could see a drop in revenue in 2009 of 35 per cent.

TCT estimates 275,000 Thailand tourism industry jobs are at stake as a result of inbound tourism dropping from 14.1 million in 2008, to an expected 10.9 million foreign tourists this year.

Empty beer bars such as this one are common in Thailand today. Photo John Le Fevre

Tourists to Thailand have dropped dramatically since the seizure of airports last year by the Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD). Photo John Le Fevre

The slump in the Thailand tourism industry was confirmed by hotel market information specialist STR Global who announced monthly declines of more than 30 percent in revenue per available room over the same five month period in 2007-2008.

According to STR Global, from November 2008 to March 2009 Chiang Mai had the lowest occupancy rate of 43 per cent followed by Bangkok at 52.7 per cent, Hua Hin at 57.4 per cent and Phuket 60.8 percent.

The report states Phuket had the highest revenue per room rate of Bt3,236.9 (about $US91.76), followed by Hua Hin at Bt2,968.2 (about $US84.14), then Bangkok at Bt1,879.2 (about $US53.27) and Chiang Mai at Bt1,616.3 (about $US45.82).

James Chappell, managing director of STR Global, said the airport closures during the November 2008 PAD protests and foreign governments’ travel advisories have made visitors more wary of Thailand as a tourist destination.

“Security is a main concern of travellers, and the recent media coverage of violent protests will deter many business and leisure guests contemplating travel to Thailand”. (See Thai hotels RevPAR slumps by 30 percent)

At the same time as Mr Abhisit was addressing Nesac, the Bank of Thailand was estimating Thailand’s economy to have contracted by between five and six per cent for the first quarter of 2009.

Amara Sriphayak, senior director for the Domestic Economy Department, said exports for the first quarter of 2009 fell by 23 per cent to $US11.4 billion (about Bt402.1 billion) compared to 2008, while manufacturing output decreased 20 per cent and private investment shrank 13 per cent.

Dr Amara said the bank’s business sentiment survey showed poorer confidence in both the Thai economy and political stability in the future.

Mr Abhisit acknowledged this in his speech saying he expects Thailand’s political climate over the next six to seven months to remain fragile, as there are some groups vowing to resort to weapons and violence against the government. (See Red shirts defiant as “third hand” blamed for Thailand riots and assassination attempt: Thai tourism plummets).

He said he was hopeful the ongoing political unrest had ended and that solutions would be found through people’s participation to address issues that first saw five Thailand airports seized by yellow shirt protesters last year, a change in government, and then clashes between the Thai military and United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) red shirt protesters on the streets of Bangkok earlier this month. (See Battle for Bangkok photo special and Thailand political unrest continues as hundreds of thousands rally in Bangkok)

Prior to the protests last year Thailand’s tourism industry was the country’s largest revenue earner accounting for more than six per cent of GDP or Bt 521.7 billion (about $US14.78 billion). The protests and closure of airports last year by the PAD saw foreign tourist arrivals to Thailand drop by more than half a million over those in 2007.

Mr Abhisit also said the government had failed to achieve it’s forecast tax revenue goal with tax levies in March down by Bt2 trillion (about $US56.698 billion).

In addressing two of the issues that saw red shirt protesters besiege Government House and take to the streets, Mr Abhisit also said he was open to dissolving parliament after the constitution was amended.

ENDS:
© John Le Fevre, 2009

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