what a surprise

Indonesia to produce anti-bird flu drug


• Monday, Aug 14, 2006
Indonesia will begin the production of an anti viral drug to fight the bird flu virus.Oseltamivir or tamiflu, an anti-viral drug for bird flu is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in an effort to control the spread of bird flu virus, Health Minister, Siti Fadilah has said.

Supari said last week that production would begin within months and “in the early stages,

we will possibly produce some five million capsules”.

She said that the drug whose patent right belonged to PT Roche would be produced by a state-owned company that was already in the pharmacy business.

The Minister said the drug, which was only effective within 48 hours after infection could create resistance if not properly used, would only be used officially.

She said that the Drug and Food Administration Agency (POM) had issued a registration number for the distribution of the drug by a sole distributor.

Fadilah said the drug would be distributed to 44 reference hospitals assigned by the government to handle bird flu patients and health care centres in endemic areas.

The Indonesian government, she said, presently had stocks of 12,000 oseltamivir capsules.

The WHO has confirmed 57 bird flu cases in humans with 44 deaths in Indonesia