AS citizens of China, the United States and Australia began receiving flu vaccines against the H1N1 flu pandemic, commonly known as 'swine flu', Namibia has started consultations to get its own stock of vaccines.

"We are consulting with the World Health Organisation (WHO), and I will make a statement at the opportune moment," Health Minister Richard Kamwi yesterday told The Namibian.

The WHO has on several occasions stated its confidence in the vaccine, calling it "the most important tool against the influenza pandemic", and has encouraged everyone with access to be immunised.

Mass vaccinations have already begun in China and Australia, with other countries soon to follow suit. In the United States, where supply is still limited, priority groups - such as pregnant women, people with children younger than six months old, health-care and emergency medical services workers, people from six months to 24 years of age, and those 25 to 64 who have chronic health problems or immune-system issues - are being targeted to receive the vaccine first.

But the WHO says vaccine supplies in many low- and middle-income countries - such as Namibia - will "depend on donations from manufacturers and other countries".

The Chairperson of the National Health Emergency Management Committee (NHEMC), Dr Jack Vries, said the vaccine topic would be discussed at a meeting of the committee early next week, where feedback will be presented by WHO representatives on the committee with regards to what can be expected, and how many doses the organisation might provide.

Vries also said that various steps needed to be taken before the vaccine would arrive.

This includes getting information on the vaccine itself, which age groups can be vaccinated, determining the target population, registering the vaccine in Namibia, and so on.

By late September, the WHO had reported that regulatory authorities have licensed pandemic vaccines in Australia, China and the United States of America, "soon to be followed by Japan and several countries in Europe".

The health body said the length of the approval process was dependent on "factors such as each country's regulatory pathway, the type of vaccine being licensed, and the stage of manufacturers' readiness to submit appropriate information to regulatory authorities."

Donations for use in developing countries have already been announced by some countries who have pledged to make 10 per cent of their stockpiles available to developing countries, but at this stage, it is unclear how this will be rolled out.

"The challenge during the next few weeks is to build up the solidarity between wealthy and poor nations to ensure that adequate vaccine is made available," UN co-ordinator for fighting emerging flu varieties, David Nabarro, has been quoted as saying.

To date, 69 cases of the flu have been confirmed in Namibia, with the number of new cases reported per week having come down slightly in the past few weeks. All the cases have been successfully treated and patients recovered well. Only one flu-related death has been reported in the country.

nangula@namibian.com.na