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xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Sun May 5, 2013, 07:59 AM May 2013

To Fight Pandemics, Reward Research

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/business/an-economic-cure-for-pandemics.html?ref=health

THAT frightening word “pandemic” is back in the news. A strain of avian influenza has infected people in China, with a death toll of more than 25 as of late last week. The outbreak raises renewed questions about how to prepare for possible risks, should the strain become more easily communicable or should other deadly variations arise.

Our current health care policies are not optimal for dealing with pandemics. The central problem is that these policies neglect what economists call “public goods”: items and services that benefit many people and can’t easily be withheld from those who don’t pay for them directly.

Protection against communicable diseases is a core example of a public good, as is basic scientific research, which can yield new ideas that may be spread at very low additional cost. (In contrast, Medicare, which is publicly financed, has some elements of a public good, but any particular expenditure tends to benefit an individual receiving treatment, rather than being spread over a number of beneficiaries.)

One obvious step forward would be to exempt biomedical research from cuts of the current federal budget sequestration. Research and development grants are a way to pay potential innovators up front — an important move, as an innovator can’t always charge high-enough prices for the value of its remedies when they’re actually needed.
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To Fight Pandemics, Reward Research (Original Post) xchrom May 2013 OP
About twenty years ago I read a book about influenza. SheilaT May 2013 #1
 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
1. About twenty years ago I read a book about influenza.
Sun May 5, 2013, 11:30 AM
May 2013

It was quite interesting. I learned, among other things, that there are three major types, unimaginatively called A, B, and C. And that the type A flues are the worst. All of the major deadly flu epidemics have been type A flues.

It also stated that the main reason we have constantly evolving influenza viruses is that in China they raise pigs and fowls together. Chickens mostly, but apparently to a lesser extent ducks. Pigs and chickens pass flu viruses back and forth, which keeps those viruses happily mutating, then they jump to humans who get sick, which didn't happen to the pigs or the chickens. If we could get China to alter some of its agricultural practices, influenza would just about disappear.



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