Abstract
Better preparedness for an influenza pandemic mitigates its impact. Many countries have started developing and implementing national influenza pandemic preparedness plans. However, the level of preparedness varies among countries. Developing countries encounter unique and difficult issues and challenges in preparing for a pandemic. Deaths attributable to an influenza pandemic could be substantially higher in developing countries than in industrialized countries. Pharmaceutical interventions such as vaccines and antiviral agents are less likely to be available in developing countries. The public health and clinical infrastructure of developing countries are often inadequate to deal with a widespread health crisis such as an influenza pandemic. Such an event will inevitably have a global effect. Therefore, improving pandemic preparedness in every country, particularly developing ones, is urgently needed.
Highlights
Better preparedness for an influenza pandemic mitigates its impact
Developing countries have limited financial and technical resources to strengthen pandemic preparedness. They face some unique and difficult issues, which make preparing for a pandemic more challenging
A recent study that estimated the global impact of the Spanish flu pandemic indicated that a considerable difference in mortality rates was observed between high- and low-income countries [4]
Summary
When an influenza pandemic emerges, all countries worldwide will inevitably be affected. Several factors may have been involved, including lack of access to adequate medical care, weak public health infrastructures, social factors such as housing conditions and population density, and host factors such as nutritional status and co-existing medical conditions Another potential factor likely to influence mortality in a future pandemic is the high HIV/AIDS prevalence in some developing countries. HIV co-infection with a pandemic virus can be associated with more severe infections, which may further raise death rates in countries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence. PERSPECTIVE the estimated 62 million deaths in a future pandemic would occur in developing countries [4] The impact of such high mortality rates obviously needs to be taken into account when creating pandemic preparedness plans for developing countries. Models are based on data from industrialized countries [6], which may underestimate the actual impact of a pandemic in developing countries
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