Russian TV talk show discusses global warming, swine flu threats

The 14 December edition of the weekly political discussion programme "Honest Monday" on Russian Gazprom-owned NTV, hosted by regular presenter Sergey Minayev, discussed the way that global warming and the swine flu epidemic were being reported in the media and asked whether the threats were being deliberately overblown.

The studio guests this week were Konstantin Simonov, director-general of the National Energy Security Foundation; Aleksandr Belyayev, deputy director of the Geography Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Nikolay Kaverin, head of the virology laboratory of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences; and Yuriy Krestinskiy, director of the Institute of Public Health Problems.

The programme invited viewers to answer the following question: "Who benefits from the talk about global catastrophes and epidemics?" Of the three options given, 65 per cent of the 41,200 votes cast were given to business; 27 per cent thought that politicians were the main beneficiaries, while 8 per cent thought society had the most to gain.

Despite the presenter's repeated efforts to encourage the guests to blame specific individuals or groups for instilling a sense of panic within society, the discussion was in fact extremely general, with the guests merely giving their opinions about the extent of the climate and epidemic threats.

Simonov said that there was no genuine consensus among scientists about the threat posed by global warming. Belyayev disagreed, asserting that climate change is a fact. Simonov also said that he wished society would tackle "more real threats", such as diabetes or cancer, rather than global warming which may or may not exist.

Krestinskiy said that the danger presented by the A/H1N1 virus had been exaggerated, as statistics showed only 5,500 confirmed cases in Russia since the start of 2009. He also criticised the fact that ordinary people are having to pay for swine flu medication, and called on the authorities to explain why there is no universal medical insurance. Kaverin, meanwhile, was far more cautious, saying that he thought the media had generally merely informed the public about the threat, and insisted that there was no cause for panic.

Source: NTV Mir, Moscow, in Russian 2040 gmt 14 Dec 09

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