Is the Government listening to scientists?

The Government is not making the best use of independent scientific advice when making critical decisions warns a new report by the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Research is uncovering more and more about influenza virus, but is government listening?

The report has accused the Government of failing to listen to expert advice in its preparations for a flu pandemic, and criticises it for stockpiling just one antiviral drug.
Sir John Skehel, chair of the report’s working group, said: “We are concerned that decisions are being made, as the UK prepares for a possible pandemic, that fail to take account of expert advice. The Government was right to order Tamiflu in early 2005. However, we are concerned that it is not updating its plans as the landscape of what we know about influenza changes.”
It also accuses the government of a lack of transparency, pointing out that the scientific basis for its decisions, particularly concerning the purchase of Tamiflu and vaccines from pharmaceutical companies - “has not been made publicly available in full”.
In a prepared statement, Professor Lindsay Davis, the Department of Health’s director of Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, said: “We do keep our pandemic preparedness planning under constant review with the advice and assistance of our scientific advisory group.”
However, the authors of the report claim in the light of new evidence that the H5N1 virus can develop resistance to Tamiflu, a combination of antivirals should be stockpiled, along with adjuvants – agents that boost a vaccine’s effects.
The report also calls on the Department of Health to bring together academic researchers and pharmaceutical companies to develop and improve vaccines to control the scale of an influenza pandemic.
Sir John said: “We find limited evidence that the UK Government is engaging with industry to research and develop new vaccines. Encouraging researchers and drug manufacturers to share information would speed up the development of adjuvants and vaccines to make the UK more responsive during a pandemic.”
Roche, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, have said that it is theoretically possible for resistance to the drug to emerge, but the World Health Organisation has stated that the resistance so far had been negligible.