Korea to Double Tamiflu Stockpile
By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
The government will double the country's current stockpile of the antiviral drug ``Tamiflu" to 2.5 million treatment courses by the year-end.
The increased stockpile, which would be sufficient to treat 5 percent of the nation's population, is part of comprehensive measures to combat avian influenza that has been spreading around the country.
The plan was approved during a Cabinet meeting held at the presidential office over the weekend.
Antiviral avian flu drugs are not manufactured domestically. The leading drug oseltamivir phosphate, better known as Tamiflu, is made by U.S.-headquartered drug manufacturer Roche Laboratories.
The administration said it also plans to set up an inter-ministerial taskforce to stem the bird flu outbreak. The committee will be overseen by Prime Minister Han Seung-soo's office.
Additionally, the government will establish a monitoring network linking general hospitals, pediatric medical facilities and clinics, in order to check on possible human infections.
``People are increasingly worried about the potential to contract avian influenza after the first bird flu case was found last month,'' President Lee Myung-bak said during the Cabinet meeting.
This year's first case was in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, on April 1. It then spread to other parts of the country.
Lee said, ``The government will develop countermeasures, including boosting the import of antiviral flu drugs. We have been able to control the outbreak in areas where the first cases were discovered. But we are finding new cases in small-scale poultry farms in metropolitan regions."
He said there should be a wider public campaign to let consumers know that bird flu is not easily transmitted to humans.
The President emphasized the fact that not one of the 13,000 workers involved in slaughtering and processing facilities connected to outbreaks has contracted the human form of bird flu.
The government also said the butchering of chickens and ducks at traditional open markets and restaurants should be banned to contain the spread of the disease.
The avian influenza and its H5N1 strain have been sweeping across Korean poultry farms since early April. The strain was also detected in an aviary in Seoul a few days ago. It was the first time ever that an outbreak has been discovered in the capital. Since last month, Korean poultry farmers have culled some 6.8 million birds to stop the spread of avian flu.
So far, Korea has not discovered any human infections, but fears about this have been on the rise. Around the world, the H5N1 strain has killed some 240 people since 2003.