The influenza programme of WHO.

This article describes the evolution of international co-operation for the control of epidemic influenza, from the founding of the United States Armed Forces Commission on Influenza in 1941 to the present network of influenza centres designated by WHO in 42 different countries. The technical problems of dealing with this disease on a worldwide scale are indicated, and their bearing on the development of the WHO influenza programme discussed. Suggestions are made for the simplification and co-ordination of the system on which epidemiological information is compiled, and the need for speed in both its collection and its dissemination is emphasized.