Truth, Lies, and Public Health

The above is the title of a boook I recommend. Written by epidemiologist Madelon Lubin Finkel, the book is made up of a series of essays demonstrating how public policy is often made when scientific data shows the policy is absolutely wrong. This morning the AP reports that Bernard Vallat, director general of the World Organization for Animal Health, said that "[f]ears of a flu pandemic from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus were overblown." According to Vallat, the "concerns a few years ago that a flu pandemic from H5N1 might be imminent lacked scientific proof." Vallat said that the "H5N1 virus has proved extremely stable, despite concerns that it could mutate into a form that could spread easily among humans." Support of pandemic influenze in the U.S. seems more driven by dollars given to public health than the likelihood of a real epidemic. Yet, if this money had been given as a block grant to improve public health infrastructure it might have done more good. The latter however is not nearly as politically appealling as preventing a non existent threat. Dr. Finkel's book is available at Amazon.com