Indonesia sees cultural divide on bird flu sharing

By Olivia Rondonuwu and Ed Davies

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia is trying to defend the interests of poorer nations by refusing to share bird flu samples with the West and is locked in a cultural misunderstanding over the issue, Jakarta's health minister said on Wednesday.

Siti Fadillah Supari also said in an interview that a U.S. naval medical lab based in Indonesia for research into tropical diseases was barely benefiting its host country and was not being transparent in its operations.

"Poor countries sent the virus to the WHO (World Health Organisation) on behalf of humanity. But it was commercialised by the WHO," Supari said in her offices in central Jakarta.

Officials in Indonesia, the country with the highest number of human bird flu victims, have said they want to ensure equal access to any vaccines that are made against bird flu.

But U.S. Health Secretary Michael Leavitt said last month after visiting Jakarta that Indonesia also wanted payments.

Supari likened Indonesia's gripe over virus sharing to someone giving a ripe banana to someone so it could be fried to raise its value and then not giving any benefit to the person providing the banana.

"Well that's our culture, but Western culture cannot understand. Western people are used to buying the thing and after that don't feel any attachment," said Supari, who is known for being outspoken on the bird flu issue.

She said that virus samples were not being sent to the WHO until a new fairer global mechanism for sharing was in place that ensured that samples sent from countries benefited them.