us to buy antiviral $au5.1 billion, page-2

Here's the link and story below. The US senate just passed it.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16769339%255E1702,00.html


$5bn bid to fight bird flu
By Richard Cowan in Washington
September 30, 2005
THE US Senate passed legislation overnight to add $US4 billion ($5.3 billion) to the US fight against deadly avian flu by stocking up on anti-viral drugs and increasing global surveillance of the disease.

The provision, which was attached to an unrelated fiscal 2006 spending Bill for the military, faces an uncertain future in the House of Representatives.

The Senate vote came as international organisations urged the United States and other countries to be more aggressive against the avian flu outbreak.

Senator Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican shepherding the defence spending Bill through the Senate, said he would try to block the avian flu provision.

His next opportunity will be when Senate and House negotiators meet to work out a compromise on the defence spending Bill. That meeting has not been set.









Avian flu among flocks in Asia has been growing for several years and outbreaks have been spotted in parts of Russia.

So far, 65 people in Asia who are thought to have had close contact with infected birds have died since 2003.

Scientists fear a mutation of the H5N1 virus could make it transmissible among humans, sparking a worldwide epidemic that could kill millions of people.

"It's the midnight hour. We have to get moving on it now, not next year, not after some study group in the White House bangs this thing around for another three months," Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, said.

Senator Harkin, with the backing of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, wants the Government to spend nearly $US3.1 billion ($4.1 billion) to stockpile enough doses of an anti-viral drug for half the US population.

Senator Harkin said there were only two million doses on hand now, enough for 1 per cent of the population.

Two anti-viral drugs have been shown to ease avian flu symptoms and possibly prevent it.

Switzerland's Roche Holding AG makes Tamiflu, known generically as oseltamivir, and GlaxoSmithKline makes Relenza, or zanamivir.

It is unclear how quickly pharmaceutical firms could fill a US order for about 150 million doses.

Under the Senate plan, other funds would be used to increase global surveillance of the disease, increase spending on a vaccine and help states and cities prepare for a large outbreak.

Senator Stevens argued that avian flu "has not yet become a threat to human beings".

"We ought to wait for the scientists to tell us what needs to be done," he said.

A UN official said today a worldwide drive would be launched to combat a pandemic that could kill half of those infected.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, a surgeon, said he called on Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to complete a national preparedness plan.