WHO: Swine Flu Could Infect 2 Billion People If Becomes Pandemic
OPS_admin | May 07, 2009 | Comments 0
WHO: Swine Flu Could Infect 2 Billion People If Becomes Pandemic
The media’s coverage of the H1N1 swine flu epidemic has been criticized by many for being overblown, fire-fanning, scare-mongering, overly hyped, and apocalyptic. However, statements Thursday from a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official seem to do the panic-prone and hypochondriacs out there no favors, predicting that if the virus becomes a pandemic, it could infect a third of the world’s population — around 2 billion people. According to Earth Times, WHO’s health security chief Keiji Fukuda predicts that, “looking at past pandemics, a third of the world’s population could be infected.”
However, Fukuda, speaking to reporters in Geneva, later made note of the crucial distinction between those who will be infected and those who will actually become seriously ill, and he says he is unaware of any inclination by WHO to raise the epidemic alert level from phase 5 to phase 6, Earth Times reports.
via WHO: Swine Flu Could Infect 2 Billion People If Becomes Pandemic.
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If we don't change our ways soon...
A new report by the Royal Society, chaired by Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir John Sulston warns that world population must be stabilized and consumption in wealthy nations must be reduced or the entire planet is in big trouble. As the report reads: "The number of people living on the planet has never been higher, their levels of consumption are unprecedented and vast changes are taking place in the environment. We can choose to rebalance the use of resources to a more egalitarian pattern of consumption... or we can choose to do nothing and to drift into a downward spiral of economic and environmental ills leading to a more unequal and inhospitable future."This is the same warning that President Jimmy Carter gave Americans back in the 1970's - but it was ignored when Ronald Reagan came to power with a "more positive" message basically telling Americans we can do whatever we want. And then after 9/11 - Bush told us all we should go shopping and consume ever more.And now with corporations calling the shots in Washington - long-term sustainability of the planet takes a back seat to short-term profits. If we don't change our ways soon - and embrace clean, alternative energy and educate women around the plant - then we all could be headed for a rough century.-Thom(Is there any chance we will learn in time? Tell us here.) -
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