EU to share anti-flu drugs

By Jennifer Rankin - 30.04.2009 / 22:00 CET

EU steps up co-operation to curb swine flu, but rules out travel ban.

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Fact file

EU ministers made several promises in the official conclusions to their meeting:

to share information about the virus;
to apply common definitions for defining a case of swine flu, or “novel flu” as the European Commission prefers to call it;
to work together to provide public information;
to co-operate on developing a vaccine covering the swine flu virus and look at the most quickest ways of producing it.

The three-page communication also included a statement that preparations and responses to health risks are ultimately a “member state competence”.