How to make global bird flu vaccination efforts feasible

That's the focus of a paper in the current issue of the ominously-named journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism. It's titled "Removing barriers to global pandemic influenza vaccination" (available free) and authored by Gigi Kwik Gronvall and Luciana Borio of the University of Pittsburgh. The paper begins this way:

"In an influenza pandemic, most of the world will not get vaccine. Vaccination would be the best way to prevent infection and save lives, but there simply won’t be enough. The United States, France, Australia, Canada, Japan, and other wealthy countries have contracted with manufacturers to produce pandemic vaccine for their citizens, but their demand will quickly exceed the global production capacity. The manufacturing capacity for seasonal influenza vaccine is only about 300 million doses per year globally, and the capacity for pandemic influenza vaccine will be even less."

How can this situation be improved? The authors focus on harmonizing the varying regulatory structures and requirements employed by the U.S., E.U., and Japan, among other suggestions.