Reuters: Novartis won't give free H1N1 vaccines to the poor

Swiss drugs company Novartis will not give free vaccines against H1N1 flu to poor countries, though it will consider discounts, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

'If you want to make production sustainable, you have to create financial incentives,' the FT quoted Novartis Chief Executive Daniel Vasella as saying in an early edition of Monday's paper.

The director-general of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, has called for drugs companies to show solidarity with poor countries as they develop vaccines against the pandemic H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu.

Reuters: Novartis won't give free H1N1 vaccines to the poor