Africa's response to swine flu = shrugs: If asked what preparations they are making for the possibility of swine flu's arrival, most African governments opt for the same kind of wordy non-statement issued by African Union chairman Jean Ping on Thursday: "We hope to establish a continental plan for prevention, and if necessary a mechanism to fight this outbreak that has not yet affected Africa."

TIME: ...the WHO has urged all governments to prepare for an imminent pandemic. "The biggest question is, 'How severe will a pandemic be?'" Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, said in Switzerland. So politicians have to make like they're doing something. Gabon and Ghana have banned the import of pork, even though the flu virus cannot be contracted through eating dead pig. Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe say they are checking arriving passengers at borders and airports and have response plans of varying sophistication should an outbreak occur.

SHOOT: Interesting the terminology used to refer to someone with swine flu is no different from the terminology used to refer to someone alleged to have committed a crime, including murder: Swine flou suspect released. Swine flu suspect isolated etc.

TIME: In Thailand, for example — a country with a relatively robust health care system — "we found that you need only have a very mild, very small pandemic to saturate the system. [Thailand doesn't] have enough ventilators, doctors or Tamiflu." Coker said that the Thai government and other governments in the developing world will likely be forced to make difficult decisions on how to allocate resources in the case of a pandemic, and these decisions should be made public early on to avoid causing social unrest.

SHOOT: This article wisely acknowledge a widely understated threat, and that it is the likelihood that a worldwide crisis (economic, energy or health-related) can lead to widespread social unrest. Ordinary civilians ought to keep this in mind too, increasingly, as our troubles continue to escalate.

clipped from www.time.com In Africa, malaria kills more than 3,000 children a day; in South Africa, HIV/AIDS has taken 2.8 million people and infected 5.3 million more. Every day in India, 1,000 people succumb to tuberculosis. Those are just the big diseases. According to the United Nations, a recent cholera outbreak killed nearly 4,000 Zimbabweans and infected 80,000, while in India diarrheal diseases kill an estimated 600,000 children under 5 every year. (Read "Top 5 Swine Flu Don'ts")