Tories' 'bird flu minister' call

UK - The UK government should appoint a single minister with responsibility for dealing with the threat of bird flu, the Conservatives have said. Patrick Mercer, the party's homeland security spokesman warned the country might otherwise face a situation akin to that of the 1918 flu pandemic.

He called on the government to appoint a homeland security minister, who could oversee all bird flu planning. But the government said it was as prepared as any country could be.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt told the Commons on Monday, that the government was taking "proportionate actions, based on the best available evidence" to prepare for an outbreak of pandemic flu.

But she said the government would continue to review its preparations "so that as far as any country can be fully prepared against the risk of pandemic flu, we in the UK will be prepared".

Source: BBC

18 October 2005