Geneva  - The world's "woefully inadequate" supply of influenza vaccines was due to the smaller-than-needed manufacturing capacity, the head of the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

The "shortfall in vaccine supplies, in the face of universal need, is the result of limited global manufacturing capacity," said Margaret Chan in Geneva, during a conference on intellectual property.

The issue of flu vaccine has again surfaced with the emergence of the new A(H1N1) virus, known generally as the new swine flu.

The capacity was "finite and woefully inadequate for a world of 6.8 billion people, nearly all of whom are susceptible to infection by this entirely new and highly contagious virus," said Chan.

"The lion's share of these limited supplies will go to wealthy countries," Chan said, adding that "again we see access denied by an inability to pay."

During her speech the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization, she said the poor were often unable to receive their health needs owing to a lack of capital.

Also, she spoke about the problems of developing economies who had to deal with neglected diseases. While some innovative financing methods have been devised in recent years, many diseases lack cures as it is not profitable to invest in the research and development.

Chan said intellectual property rights were not to blame for health problems in the developing markets and that poverty itself was the impediment.

"We are fully aware of the need for a system of intellectual property that rewards innovation in the interest of keeping it sustainable," Chan told the audience.(dpa)