Pandemic Pulse: Grading the response to the H1N1 influenza outbreak

Toronto, May 11, 2009

It's been a fortnight since global attention began fixating on influenza. There have been over 4,694 cases worldwide. We are likely past the midpoint of this episode and it's not the "big one." We learned lessons from SARS that we applied to this flu outbreak. This time, how have we done and what have we learned?

Today, the McLaughlin-Rotman Center for Global Health is launching Pandemic Pulse, an initiative that taps the global voice of the public on pandemics such as the H1N1 influenza outbreak. The survey, available in ten languages, aims to foster quality improvement, transparency, and accountability.

How would you grade the response? Go to www.pandemicpulse.org and have your say.  And please share this resource with friends and colleagues.
 

Best wishes,
Peter A. Singer

PS: Here are some of my thoughts from an editorial this morning in a Canadian newspaper, the National Post.