Government not acting on scientific advice for bird flu plans, says report

The government should appoint a high level independent scientific adviser to inform its preparations to tackle an influenza pandemic, the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences have said.

In a report published today, the academies say the independent adviser should sit at the same level as the government’s chief scientific adviser, currently David King. They also criticize the government for not making best use of scientific advice in its preparations to tackle a bird flu pandemic and say it has failed to properly engage with industry to develop new vaccines.

The report, published today and entitled “Pandemic influenza: science into policy”, raises concerns that decisions are being made, for example on stockpiling only one drug, which fail to take account of expert advice.