The £1.2billion spent on tackling the swine flu pandemic that never was may have saved as few as 26 lives at a cost of up to £46million each, an astonishing study has found. The vast sum spent on vaccinations, anti-virals and facemasks prevented such a paltry number of deaths because the virus turned out to be far less deadly than normal flu. The £46milllion cost of saving each life is enough to pay the salary of almost 2,000 nurses. And, amazingly, ministers believe the number of saved lives estimated by the Health Protection Agency could actually be an over-estimate. Critics said the revelation was the final indictment of the panicked reaction to the flu outbreak by the Labour government. But Labour's former health secretary Andy Burnham defended his government's spending on swine flu by saying the Department of Health was responding to the advice of scientists and the World Health Organisation, which declared a pandemic. It caused many deaths in Mexico, where it first broke out in April last year - and there were concerns it could mutate to become even more deadly. By June, people were dying here from the disease, and other countries were buying up stocks of vaccine, meaning Britain had to act fast to ensure its people were protected if the flu turned deadly. It was only after a few months that it became apparent that swine flu was far less of a problem than normal seasonal flu, after millions had been spent on vaccines, anti-virals and the establishment of a pandemic telephone helpline. In the end, just 342 people died in England. At the height of the panic, chief medical officer Liam Donaldson warned that as many as 65,000 could die. The news that so few lives may were saved will be greeted with particular anger by the families of terminally ill people denied lifeextending cancer drugs. (Daily Mail)Monday 2 August 2010
£1.2bn spent to beat swine flu... and just 26 lives saved
The £1.2billion spent on tackling the swine flu pandemic that never was may have saved as few as 26 lives at a cost of up to £46million each, an astonishing study has found. The vast sum spent on vaccinations, anti-virals and facemasks prevented such a paltry number of deaths because the virus turned out to be far less deadly than normal flu. The £46milllion cost of saving each life is enough to pay the salary of almost 2,000 nurses. And, amazingly, ministers believe the number of saved lives estimated by the Health Protection Agency could actually be an over-estimate. Critics said the revelation was the final indictment of the panicked reaction to the flu outbreak by the Labour government. But Labour's former health secretary Andy Burnham defended his government's spending on swine flu by saying the Department of Health was responding to the advice of scientists and the World Health Organisation, which declared a pandemic. It caused many deaths in Mexico, where it first broke out in April last year - and there were concerns it could mutate to become even more deadly. By June, people were dying here from the disease, and other countries were buying up stocks of vaccine, meaning Britain had to act fast to ensure its people were protected if the flu turned deadly. It was only after a few months that it became apparent that swine flu was far less of a problem than normal seasonal flu, after millions had been spent on vaccines, anti-virals and the establishment of a pandemic telephone helpline. In the end, just 342 people died in England. At the height of the panic, chief medical officer Liam Donaldson warned that as many as 65,000 could die. The news that so few lives may were saved will be greeted with particular anger by the families of terminally ill people denied lifeextending cancer drugs. (Daily Mail)