The virus sample sharing deal between the Indonesian Health Ministry and the World Health Organization has been criticized after the ministry's repeated requests for the return 58 bird flu viruses have gone unanswered.
Health Minister Siti Fadila Supari said Thursday the ministry asked for the return of the samples three monthss ago, but had yet to receive any response.
"We have been demanding the return of our viruses since August, but the WHO has never replied," Siti told a media conference regarding National Health Day, which falls next Monday.
Siti said Indonesia did not keep a stockpile of seed viruses because international regulations did not allow it.
"The regulation is actually detrimental to us, because it obliges the source country to give up all its samples."
Indonesia has sent bird flu samples to the WHO since the first case of bird flu in humans was reported in 2005.
If Indonesia were allowed.d to keep the samples, it could breed the viruses and develop its own vaccines, the minister said.
"We keep asking (the WHO) to return the samples because they the belong to us. This is for the sake of our country's sovereignty."
Siti said there had yet to be a fair and transparent mechanism for sample sharing between the WHO and, source countries, and that the WHO has the authority sendd the samples to any country without requesting permission from the source country.
The virus, she said, could easily be delivered to research institutions worldwide. Other countries could obtain the virus for free and conduct their own research to create vaccines.
The vaccines could then be sold to others, including people in the source countries, she added.
"Indonesia is struggling to have this unfair mechanism changed through international forums," Siti said.
Indonesia is scheduled to host the International Government Meeting in Jakarta on Nov. 20. The meeting is a follow-up to the World Health Assembly meeting- in Geneva, Switzerland, in May.
During the May meeting, Indonesia proposed a new mechanismm of sample sharing among WHO members. The proposall received support from 24 countries.
Indonesia has experienced the highest number of bird flu deaths worldwide. Since the first human bird flu virus infection was detected in Indonesia in 2005, 90 people have died from infection. The deaths drew global attention and raised fears the virus could evolve into a form capable of being passed between humans.
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