title: Influenza virus samples, international law, and global health diplomacy.
abstract: Indonesia's decision to withhold samples of avian influenza virus A (H5N1) from the World Health Organization for much of 2007 caused a crisis in global health. The World Health Assembly produced a resolution to try to address the crisis at its May 2007 meeting. I examine how the parties to this controversy used international law in framing and negotiating the dispute. Specifically, I analyze Indonesia's use of the international legal principle of sovereignty and its appeal to rules on the protection of biological and genetic resources found in the Convention on Biological Diversity. In addition, I consider how the International Health Regulations 2005 applied to the controversy. The incident involving Indonesia's actions with virus samples illustrates both the importance and the limitations of international law in global health diplomacy.
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Law, 211 Indiana Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. dfidler@indiana.edu
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Fidler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000821:virology; D014943:Global Health; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000821:virology*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000821:virology; D007391:International Cooperation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D017008:Negotiating; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines