London - The world - including news organisations - had an unprecedented opportunity to prepare for a global flu pandemic, and history would not judge us kindly if we failed to do anything when we had the chance, an INSI forum heard.

Dr Richard Dawood of the Fleet Street Clinic, which provides health services for international journalists and other travellers, said the world was experiencing a massive and unprecedented outbreak of bird flu which was spilling over into the human population and there was no sign of it being brought under control.

"We are overdue for a pandemic," he said. "We have an unprecedented opportunity to plan and prepare. History will not be kind if it says: 'They pretty much knew it was coming but didn't do anything about it'."

The latest journalist safety debate organised by the International News Safety Institute focused on the health risks posed to news teams covering Avian Flu outbreaks like those in Asia and Turkey, and also on preparations that news organisations should be making to cope with a global flu pandemic if bird flu should make the jump to human-to-human transmission.

Fran Unsworth, BBC Head of Newsgathering, told the conference in London that the BBC started taking the threat seriously last September. It had created a central planning team which now met weekly.

Its planning took in news coverage issues as well as the huge problem of maintaining operations if large numbers of BBC staff went sick.

(The meeting heard that HSBC is reported to be working on a disaster plan that provides for half of the bank's staff worldwide being infected).

How did the BBC carry on in event of a pandemic that could hit 25 percent of the total population of Britain? What happened if the entire staff of central operations, which organises satellite and phone links, succumbed to flu or had to stay at home to look after sick families? What if the pandemic continued for weeks or months, or came in waves?

Immediately, how do news organisations ensure teams sent out to cover bird flu outbreaks avoided contamination?

"We don't want the BBC to be responsible for bringing bird flu to Britain," she said.

Dawood said that before the outbreak of bird flu in Turkey several news organisations had adopted coverage guidelines for news crews. But in the event, it appeared that the precautions were not followed too carefully.

Some journalists went far too close to the type of environment that had resulted in fatalities - including reporting from inside the homes of people who had died.

Unprepared crews were sent into the area because they were closer and could get there faster than teams at base that had been trained and briefed on the health issues.

Dawood said he believed strongly that all travelling news teams should be given season flu shots as part of precautionary measures, even though they would not protect directly against Avian Flu.

He noted that during the SARS outbreak in Asia, many people were quarantined and held in isolation just because they had ordinary flu.

He also cited the case of a Russian journalist who triggered a full-scale Avian Flu alert in Belgium on his way home from an assignment to Turkey because he had seasonal flu.

"I feel strongly that people going into an infected area should be protected against ordinary seasonal flu," he said. "It shouldn't be an option: it should be an essential requirement."

He provided flu shots for those in the audience who wanted them and demonstrated effective face masks, protective clothing and samples of alcohol gel used to sterilise hands

Unsworth said BBC precautions included alcohol rubs and other protective measures as well as keeping a safe distance from infected birds and their nesting places as well as from the homes of infected people.

BBC staffers that might be called upon to cover Avian Flu outbreaks were offered the season flu vaccine.

"Keep your distance, use a long lens, don't go into the living room of a kid who has died," emphasised Dawood.

"Treat the story with respect."

Unsworth said employers should ensure their journalists went out fully informed and prepared with risk assessments and well protected with proper equipment.

She said broadcasters in Britain had begun discussions with the government and with one another on how to cope with a global pandemic.

The broadcasters were already taking about pooling some coverage and if a national crisis were to develop there would certainly be further discussion on what they might do together. Asked how societies coped with the trauma and emotions of a plague, Dawood was gloomy.

"Plague scenarios have not brought out the best in humankind," he said. "There has been some incredible cruelty based on misunderstanding - all kinds of horrors inflicted.

"Frankly we don't know what will happen. It's very scary."

Safety guidelines for bird flu coverage are published on the front page of the INSI website. They will be kept fully up to date with the latest information from concerned news organisations and other sources.

The Fleet Street Clinic's website also publishes useful advice as well as links to other useful sites. http://www.fleetstreetclinic.com/index.php

Bird flu update provided by Reuters Alertnet. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21233134.htm

Any journalist with advice to offer or questions to ask should contact INSI Director Rodney Pinder rodney.pinder@newssafety.com Tel: +44 7734 709267

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