Swine flu

News is just “news”…

Not the absolute truth.
Let’s put swine flu (H1N1) into perspective
 What are the symptoms of
Influenza A (H1N1)?
• Fever
• Headache
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny & stuffy nose
• Extreme fatigue
• Muscle aches
• Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea (these
symptoms may also occur, but are more common
in children)
 So….
Just about anyone could
have Swine Flu
 Deaths
 816 deaths worldwide in 160 countries
 Europe – 16,556 cases with 34 deaths

 ‘Given that countries are no longer

required to test and report individual
cases, the number of cases reported
actually understates the real number
of cases.’
 Odds of …
# death by assault in your lifetime : 331/1
# death by falling : 250/1
# death by firearm : 325/1
# death by poison : 1,400/1
# death in a car crash : 5,000/1
# death by choking on food or something else : 5,000/1
# death by drowning : 9,000/1
# death by murder : 20,000/1
# death by lightning : 71,000/1
# death by dog attack : 137,000/1
# death in the bathtub : 807,000/1
# death by a flood : 713,000/1
# death by falling out of bed : 2,000,000/1
# being killed in a terrorist WMD attack : 6,000,000/1
1154 people died
(worldwide)
Odds 8,000,000/1
Yup, that’s right
You at a greater risk from
drowning in a bathtub
 The regular run-of-the-mill strains of
influenza kill more than 35,000 Americans
every year
 Bird flu – WHO reports (1 June 09) 436 cases
and 262 deaths (was supposed to wipe us
out)
 More than 25m people have died from AIDS
since 1981 (up to July 07)
 1.6m died from TB in 2005

 SARS (Severe Adult Respiratory Distress

Syndrome)– 167 deaths up to 2003 (was
also supposed to kill millions)
 Some beneficiaries
 Drug companies – more medications
sold
 Doctors – patients with mild cold will
not ‘take any chances’
 Medical institutions

 Media – more interest = more sales

 Some politicians
Only treatment
Tamiflu
(also only treatment for bird flu)
Only licence for Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) is to:

Gilead Sciences Inc

Roche – manufacturers it under licence
Patent protection till 2016
 Tamiflu
 USA ordered 25m doses
 Total cost $2bn ($80 per course)

 65 governments have ordered

 Orders to 2008 – 200m doses

 Price $70= R500 per course

Chairman of Gilead
Since 1997 - 2001

Held major stocks

 Donald Rumsfeld
Former USA Secretary of defence
 Bush authorised $1.7Bn to fight bird flu –
14% went to Gilead inc
 Gilead shares rose 700% since 2005 (when
stock markets fell 40%)
 Total revenue for 2nd quarter 09 up 29%
over 2008
 Net income for 2nd quarter 09 = $571.4m
($434m 2008)
 Royalties from Roche ($78.8m)

 10% of every vaccine to Rumsfeld

 So lets understand..
 Every month 50,000 people die from
AIDS in South Africa
 Every day nearly 1,600 people die
from AIDS
 Every year 18,000 people die on our
roads
 25,000 people are murdered

 Every year 80,000 die of TB

But we are forced to
focus on
Influenza A (H1N1)
Swine flu
Because the Powers
Don’t make money from
treating AIDS, TB,
measles, malnutrition….