A Case for Multilateral Investment in Avian Flu Prevention.
Abstract
Influenza virus is a perennial companion of human society, posing substantial direct threats to lives and livelihoods and indirect mutagenic risk in animal populations. Realistic investments to manage this risk, including public spending on research, public health, and agro-food practices, may seem large as individual commitments, but they are small relative to the cost of averted mortality and economic damages. Prevention of contagious disease is a global commons, with economic benefits to each nation commensurate with their living standards. For this reason, there is a strong case for significant and sustained multilateral coordination, particularly as this entails investment by high income countries to reduce risk arising in lower income countries.
Citation
HPAI Research Brief No. 17, 4 pp.
Links