Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Mar 23, 2006 |
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Industry & Economy
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Health Tamiflu stocks adequate: Ramadoss Our Bureau
DR ANBUMANI RAMADOSS
New Delhi , March 22 The Health Minister, Dr A. Ramadoss, on Wednesday assured the Rajya Sabha that the Government has adequate stocks of oseltamavir phosphate (Tamiflu), the drug used to treat avian influenza. Making a suo motu statement in Rajya Sabha today, Dr Ramadoss said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had given 2,000 courses of Tamiflu to the Government of India from its own stocks. The Health Ministry over the last one-and-a-half years has been preparing itself for handling any outbreak of avian influenza in the country. "As a part of the contingency plan, it was decided by a Committee of Secretaries to create a national stockpile of anti-viral drugs of one lakh courses. This is in accordance with WHO guidelines. This is also the minimum quantity required and mercifully the virus has not started transmitting from human to human," he said. The quantity of one lakh courses has since been procured at an approximate cost of Rs 7 crore from the Swiss-based Roche and its licensee in India, Hetero Drugs Ltd. "It is to be noted that we have procured 70 per cent of the total quantity from an Indian pharmaceutical company," he added. The drugs were procured from Hetero at Rs 724 per pack of 10 capsules. The Minister reiterated that the Government has followed a transparent procedure in procuring anti-viral drugs for avian influenza and has not acted under the influence of any MNC.
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