Wikipedia describes delirium as a ‘decline in attention-focus, perception, and cognition’ and the cases reported in Japan were mainly from children and involved confusion, self-harm and in some extreme cases suicide.

It seems Roche is eager to influence your children in some way with Tamiflu considering it recently funded the children’s film ‘Happy Feet’.

What should a pharmaceutical company do when it realises it has spent billions of dollars in R&D to come up with an anti-flu drug that is only slightly effective? Well Roche, the makers of Tamiflu, have decided the best thing to do is increase its advertising campaign for the drug.

Tamiflu is an antiviral drug that is supposed to be taken at the first signs of flu to reduce the severity and duration of symptoms. A single treatment will cost around $80 but the drug has come under fire for only being modestly effective, maybe only reducing symptoms by 1 or 2 days. Critics say the real benefit of using Tamiflu is only when there is a genuine flu epidemic such as a break out of avian flu when the drug should be circulated to minimise the transmission of the new strand of virus.

But Roche is heavily promoting Tamiflu as a drug to be used to treat the common winter flu, which frankly is misleading. The best way to treat the common flu is to get a vaccination that will prevent you from ever getting the flu, spending $80 on Tamiflu is a waste of money. Roche is promoting its drug in a largely unbranded campaign, meaning Tamiflu won’t directly be mentioned in the ads.

Roche is using playful, eye-catching advertisements in print publications and movie theaters, on television and websites, and in airports that will be filled with families. It has even sponsored an animated children’s movie that is set in Antarctica and follows a group of Penguins, ‘Happy Feet’ is released on Nov 17th and Roche ads featuring the characters are already appearing in airports.

On Roche’s Tamiflu promotion website the company suggests patients ask doctors for the antiviral, even if they are not sick. The Centers for Disease Control says “the single best way to prevent the flu” is through a vaccine, which people get before they are sick. This year, officials expect there will be plenty of flu vaccine — up to 115 million doses in the United States.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is to hold a conference for health ministers at the end of the month where it will urge them to sign up to an anti-obesity charter stating that children should not be “exploited” by food companies. The main policy aim is to ban advertising for unhealthy foods aimed at children and adolescents, the WHO says “Special attention needs to be focussed on vulnerable groups such as children and adolescents, whose credulity should not be exploited by commercial activities.”

Norway and Sweden have already put a TV ban into force and France imposes health warnings on any junk food ads. But the WHO points out that advertising on the internet and mobile phone text messaging is largely unregulated and must also be part of any new regulations.

It is well known that advertising companies use child psychologists to help manipulate the desires of the children beyond the influence of their parents. Financially it is very successful because it works. It is very subtle and starts as soon as kids can recognise images, and that really is a huge challenge for parents today. It is up to the governments of the world to ‘tip the balance’ away from junk food corporations in favour of responsible parents. It is not the first time in history that companies have exploited children for financial gain, think chimney sweeps and child labour.

Banning junk food advertising aimed at children is the first step in curbing the obesity problem that is developing all over the world. The problem is also seeding itself in parts of the world that is still developing such as Eastern Europe where for every $100 invested in fruit and vegetable productions, another $1000 is invested in soft drink and confectionary.

If you want to know what a society that doesn’t have corporate junk food pushed down its neck looks like then Cuba is a perfect example. Cuba was subject to a United States embargo that banned all US companies from selling products in or to Cuba, this included food and medicines. This meant the fast food industry didn’t establish itself and Cuba had to look for its own ways of developing a food industry. The result is a society that eats food as nature intended, with little or no factory manufacturing. But the real measure of this lack of junk food is the fact that Cuba has a life expectancy rate that is higher than many western developed nations.

The WHO conference takes place on Nov. 15 in Istanbul and will be attended by ministers from over 50 countries.