**GAO-08-92**                      Published: Dec 21, 2007. Publicly Released: Jan 22, 2008.                  

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## Highlights

Pandemic influenza poses a threat to public health at a time when the United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) has said that infectious diseases are spreading faster than at any time in history. The last major influenza pandemic occurred from 1918 to 1919. Estimates of deaths worldwide if a similar pandemic were to occur have ranged between 30 million and 384 million people. Individual countries and international organizations have developed and begun to implement a strategy for forestalling (that is, containing, delaying, or minimizing the impact of) the onset of a pandemic. Antivirals and vaccines may help forestall a pandemic. GAO was asked to examine (1) constraints upon the use of antivirals and vaccines to forestall a pandemic and (2) efforts under way to overcome these constraints. GAO reviewed documents and consulted with officials of the Departments of State and Health and Human Services (HHS), international organizations, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. WHO commented that the report was comprehensive and useful. HHS stressed that vaccines and antivirals must be viewed in a larger context. State and HHS commented that the term "forestall" is ambiguous and misleading. However, GAO has used the word in a way that is consistent with WHO's use of the term.

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## Topics

Health Care

Avian influenzaDisease controlDisease detection or diagnosisDisease surveillanceEmergency preparednessEmergency response plansEmerging infectious diseasesInfectious diseasesInfluenzaPandemicProgram managementPublic healthResearch and developmentRisk managementVaccination