Michael Fumento on the Pandemic Hysteria
The last time I wrote about the politics of the flu, Bush was trying to get everyone hopped up over the impending bird flu (Avian flu) pandemic that would require that government have all power in order to save us. Since then, I've largely stopped paying attention to the waves of pandemic hysteria that sweep around popular culture. I've vaguely noted that the swine flu seems to be the thing of the moment, but, actually, there are so many varieties of hysteria that I'm having a hard time keeping them straight.
Thank goodness Michael Fumento is following all of this with a great eye for detail.
When the sacrosanct World Health Organization (WHO) made its official declaration in June, we were 11 weeks into the outbreak, and swine flu had only killed 144 people worldwide--the same number who die of seasonal flu worldwide every few hours. The mildest pandemics of the 20th century killed at least a million people worldwide. And even after six months, swine flu has killed about as many people as the seasonal flu does every six days.
In Australia and New Zealand, flu season has ended, and almost all cases have been swine flu. Yet even without a vaccine, these countries are reporting fewer flu deaths than normal. (In New Zealand, that's just 18 confirmed deaths compared with 400 normally.) Swine flu is causing negative deaths!
It also seems that my own lack of clarity over this bird v. pig issue was not an accident:
[WHO] was losing credibility over the refusal of avian flu H5N1 to go pandemic and kill as many as 150 million people worldwide, as its "flu czar" had predicted in 2005. Around the world, nations stockpiled antiviral medicines and H5N1 vaccine. So when pig flu conveniently appeared, the WHO essentially crossed out "avian," inserted "swine," and WHO Director-General Margaret Chan could boast: "The world can now reap the benefits of investments over the last five years in pandemic preparedness."
Finally, as to why WHO is promoting this stuff, Fumento links to a speech by the Director General, in which she promotes a soft-socialist agenda in the name of health, the WHO as world central planner.
Thank you Michael for doing all the hard work here.
Comments (8)
newson
the only swine to be scared of are those on the ballot paper.
Published: November 3, 2009 9:23 AM
DJF
It does not matter if there is a pandemic or not. If there is a pandemic they will demand more money and power to get ready for the next pandemic, if there is not a pandemic they will demand more money and power because they will claim their efforts stopped the pandemic and they need to be ready for the next one.
Published: November 3, 2009 12:13 PM
prettyskin
Really, the investors now want their money. Funding medical researches for the future is a guaranteed profit for the investors, just use scare tactics like "pandemic".
Published: November 3, 2009 12:57 PM
Ribald
While I understand the boy-who-cried-wolf sentiment with regards to the H5N1 and H1N1 flu's, I'm wondering if it isn't colored by a bit of unjustified anger.
Consider this hypothetical: a new flu strain appears, and circumstantial evidence suggests it's more lethal than ordinary flu (it hasn't been confirmed). One knows that a strain as lethal as the Spanish Flu of 1918 could kill far more people today simply because there are more people around, and population density is higher. On the other hand, it might be a false alarm. Knowing that a lethal pandemic can spread across the globe very quickly, and that it takes months to prepare a vaccine, what should be done?
Regardless of whether it's a state agency or the free market doing it, I'd think it very important that awareness is spread and vaccines developed/deployed in advance of any pandemic threat. The alternative is to wait and see if it's a pandemic threat *before* acting. That determination, of course, comes when the virus either becomes a pandemic or it doesn't.
I eagerly await the day when virus lethality can be accurately predicted by biological simulations. Then, we will be able to finally respond to viruses in an efficient manner.
Published: November 3, 2009 4:57 PM
Morbius
Ribald, I am of the belief that science is doing a fine job of accurately predicting how lethal each year's flu strain will be.
It is however not in the interests of WHO, politicians, the nation states, the UN or even the US CDC to release accurate numbers.
From here it looks to me like politics as usual played out with our health and survival now.
Published: November 3, 2009 9:34 PM
newson
the fridge-magnet mark the real entry into the hysteria phase. waiting, waiting...
Published: November 4, 2009 3:43 AM
CdnTiger
While I agree that this H1N1 debacle is primarily political, a quick google search seems to show that Australia took "unprecedented" measures and provided the H1N1 vaccine "for free" to its population. This info contradicts Fumento's article and could be used by the vaccine supporters to show that it's because of the vaccine that only 18 people died of flu in Australia this year. Did Fumento not check his facts, or am I missing something?
Published: November 4, 2009 10:09 AM
Michael Fumento
You're missing something.
The Aussie epidemic ended before a single swine flu vaccine was administered. And the 18 deaths were in New Zealand. And finally, New Zealand normally has 400 flu deaths in years when vaccine IS available.
I checked my facts. Would you please read my articles?
Thank you.
Published: November 12, 2009 1:53 PM