Madam President, my motion for a resolution tabled on behalf of the Group of the Party of European Socialists relates to the situation in India caused by pneumonic plague which began in the Gujarat state of Surat and which is clearly grave and spreading. Many people have died and today the Surat area has over 600 people who are identified as having pneumonic plague. The plague has spread. It is now in 7 states of India and cases have been confirmed in India's three largest cities - Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta. The motion for a resolution is very simple. It calls on the Commission to take urgent measures to come to the assistance of the Indian people. There is, however, a technical problem with the translation: it talks about the urgent need of vaccines. These may be needed, but the real urgency is for antibiotics. That has been confirmed by the World Health Organization in conversations today, and I hope the Commission will respond positively to this human need, which is so evident in India at the present tim

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