Radio Australia Today Editorial

Swine Flu. A quick and unifying reaction.

28 April 2009

Perhaps it’s the fact that media is so fast.

Perhaps it’s just that people have strong memories of the SARS epidemic.

Perhaps, after all the financial terror of recent days, people are like coiled springs, ready to react.

Perhaps our care factor has gone up a tad.

Whatever the reason, the news of the Swine Flu from Mexico has brought reaction so instant around the world that markets have wobbled;  shares in airlines and oil have dropped; pharmaceutical companies involved in vaccine production have soared on the market, even if they are a long way away from having the solution for the Swine Flu. Mostly importantly, governments have taken action and are sharing information and help like never before.

I have never seen such a rapid response to a health-related story. The fact that the news got out of Mexico within days, and that countries like New Zealand, Canada and Australia were across the risk and were implementing border control plans on Day One of the breaking story, is extraordinary. Remember that this is a morphing virus for which there is no vaccine yet. Doctors we spoke to on the Club yesterday already knew all about it, even if they didn’t have the answers on how to kill it.

The news is going to keep coming too.  This morning the California Health Department announced that at least eleven of its citizens have the virus. The good news is that the worst case is a woman who is, at the time of writing, recovering well.

It’s rare to see the world acting as one on anything. They are doing it now, just as they have started doing it for the financial crisis. It could be that the current adversities are bringing people and countries together after a prolonged period of plenty and selfishness.

You can only hope so.

                                                        – Phil