Members of Parliament react to hysteria created by Chief Medical Officer
The House of Commons Science & Technology Committee (UK) released a report in which they questioned the methods with which the public was informed about the threat of the Swine Flu pandemic in 2009. The UK’s Chief Medical Officer held a press conference (on July 16, 2009) in which he suggested that up to 65,000 people in the UK could die during the pandemic.
According the to the report, “On 16 July 2009, the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, held a press briefing that led to media reports suggesting up to 65,000 people in the UK could die from swine flu in a worst case scenario. At that time, the number of actual deaths stood at around 30, and by the time the pandemic was over in April 2010, the total number of UK deaths was 460.
Dr Justin McCracken, Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency (HPA), commented that: it shows how difficult communication is because it was not just the reasonable worst case scenario that was communicated to the press. It was, actually, the range of both the best and the worst. But, inevitably, I think the figure that the press focused on was the worst case scenario.”
Of course, the media ran with the report, and offered up scary headlines, which were echoed around the globe.
The committee’s recommendation:
“We recommend that there should be a single portal of information for every emergency, along the lines of flu.gov in the USA. This should be of use to members of the public as well as emergency responders and should be the primary source of all information, linking to other websites as necessary. We consider that maintaining this portal should be the responsibility of the Lead Government Department, and should be located within its departmental website.”
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmsctech/498/49808.htm#a24
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmsctech/498/49802.htm
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