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New human
bird flu case in Indonesia |
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JAKARTA: Indonesia reported a new human case of bird flu yesterday, while Taiwan joined other Asian governments in announcing that it wants to produce the anti-viral drug Tamiflu. Over in China, the agriculture ministry said on Friday that a new H5N1 outbreak had been detected in its northern Inner Mongolia region. Countries around the world were trying to stockpile Tamiflu, which helps reduce flu symptoms in humans, in view of a potential global pandemic --- which experts fear could happen if the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain mutates into a form that passes easily between people. Indonesia and Vietnam have secured permission from Swiss-based drug maker Roche Holding AG to produce the medicine. Other countries were in talks with the company. Taian’s Intellectual Property Office said the island would request a “compulsory license” to make Tamiflu once its Roche-supplied stocks were used up. |
World Trade Organization regulations allow for drug patients to be violated in medical emergencies, if the patent holder is compensated later. However, in a statement on its website, Roche said Taiwan’s move was unnecessary because “agreed delivery timelines will be met by Roche”. The company confirmed it would complete delivery of 23 million Tamiflu dosages, covering 10% of Taiwan’s population, next year. On Friday, Roche said Indonesia could produce Tamiflu on condition that it was not for export. Indonesia’s Health minister Siti Fadilah Supari said yesterday that Indonesia hoped to start producing the drug within five months, and wanted to stockpile enough to treat about 22 million people --- around a tenth of its population. “We don’t want Indonesia to become the source of a bird flu pandemic”, Supari told reporters. |
“This shows that we are serious in dealing with bird flu”. Earlier yesterday, Indonesian health officials confirmed that a 16-year-old boy had tested positive for H5N1, bringing to 12 the number of cases reported in Indonesia. Seven have been fatal. Senior health ministry official Hariadi Wibisono said the boy, from the town of Bandung, about 150km south of the capital Jakarta, probably had contact with infected chickens. His condition was not immediately clear. At least 68 people have died from the virus in Asia since 2003, mostly in Vietnam. Almost all the cases have been linked to contact with sick poultry. --- AP.
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