The developed world’s response to the “swine flu” pandemic reveals much about one approach to healthcare. Amid the confused stories about the potential severity of the new strain of H1N1, where and when it started and how it might or might not spread, a lot of discussion has centred on anti-viral medications and vaccines. How large was the government stockpile? How many new drugs could pharmaceutical companies produce quickly? And, most pressing for many individuals and large employers, how do we get some?

In the case of swine flu, however, the best line of first defence has proved rather simpler. As the UK’s National Health Service bluntly put it: “Catch it, bin it, kill it” – sneeze or cough into a tissue, dispose of it quickly and wash your hands often to kill any unwanted germs.