‘Get ready’ mode at World Health Organization

GENEVA – Despite fears of swine flu turning into a full-blown pandemic, the atmosphere in the main hall of the 1970s-style headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva seems very business as usual.

On Tuesday morning, small groups of international health experts engaged in scientific talk over cups of coffee in the lobby’s cafeteria, while others, with briefcases or paperwork under their arms, walked across the shiny marble floor to and from adjacent elevators.

But appearances of normality aside, only a few feet away from the lobby coffee shop is WHO’s Strategic Health Operations Center – the so-called SHOC room. It is an emergency center where WHO experts have been gathering over the last several days to monitor the evolving swine flu crisis.

Fabrice Coffrini / AFP – Getty Images

Employees enter the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday.

“This is where we gather our scientists, our infection control experts, our epidemiologists, our logisticians,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, the Director-General of WHO, as she explained how the international organization has been monitoring the feared pandemic.

“We capture information from all the offices of WHO through our regional office. We have a daily teleconference here and we can connect to countries if necessary, so that we can, in real time, share information as quickly as possible,” said Chan. “And when dealing with new and emerging infection – action, speed and good information, good quality information is extremely important.”

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