Influenza Virus Samples, International Law, and Global Health Diplomacy

摘要

Indonesia's decision to withhold samples of avian in-. uenza virus A (H5N1) from the World Health Organization for much of 2007 caused a crisis in global health. The World Health Assembly produced a resolution to try to addressthe crisis at its May 2007 meeting. I examine how the parties to this controversy used international law in framing and negotiating the dispute. Specifi cally, I analyze Indonesia's use of the international legal principle of sovereignty and its appeal to rules on the protection of biological and genetic resources found in the Convention on Biological Diversity. In addition, I consider how the International Health Regula-tions 2005 applied to the controversy. The incident involving Indonesia's actions with virus samples illustrates both the importance and the limitations of international law in global health diplomacy