Flu vaccine overstock

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After this year’s rush to stock up on the vaccine against the H1N1 Flu, some European countries are now trying to unload millions of doses. Countries such as Spain, Germany, The Netherlands and France have found themselves with huge stockpiles because far fewer citizens than expected sought the vaccine out. Governments are hoping to cancel orders or sell the excess vaccines to developing nations even as they’re being criticized for overreacting and overspending against the disease. The World’s Gerry Hadden reports.

Swine flu endangers Amazonian tribe

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Swine flu has hit one of the largest isolated indigenous groups in the Amazon. The government in Venezuela has sealed off part of the country to stop swine flu devastating the Yanomami tribe of Indians. Seven members of the tribe have been killed and a thousand are believed to have caught the flu. Survival International is London-based indigenous rights group. We speak with Fiona Watson, research and field director for Survival International, about the situation. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Survival International – The movement for tribal peoples

Global political cartoons: October 24-30, 2009

Halloween has found its way into this week’s cartoons but the scary images are not witches or goblins but pumpkins wearing face masks and sneezing trick-or-treaters. It’s the ghostly spirit of the H1N1 flu. And, the new sexy: hand sanitizers.

>>> Click here to start the cartoon slideshow

H1N1 flu shot ambivalence in Europe

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US health authorities are encouraging Americans to get their H1N1 flu shot. Authorities in Europe are less enthusiastic. And Europeans are losing interest. Many people in Germany and Spain are reluctant to get a vaccination. Gerry Hadden reports. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Flu.gov