The Hindu : Front Page : States asked to act against clandestine sale of Tamiflu

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Thursday, Aug 13, 2009
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States asked to act against clandestine sale of Tamiflu

Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI: Concerned over the sale of Oseltamivir phosphate or Tamiflu — the only drug that is known to cure A(H1N1) influenza as of now — in the open market and non-availability of masks, the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday asked the States to take stringent action against those indulging in malpractices.

Retail sale of Tamiflu is banned but the tablet is available free of cost at identified government health facilities where swine flu patients are being treated. It will now be made available also to private health facilities approved for treating patients.

At an emergency meeting of the State Drug Controllers from across the country here, the Ministry drew their attention to the reports of clandestine sale of Tamiflu and disappearance of protective masks from the market. “These could be spurious capsules and also involve the issue of price. We have asked the States to carry out raids against those chemists who sell the medicine illegally,” Vineet Chawdhry, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health, told journalists.

Explaining that N-95 masks, which had disappeared from the market, were not recommended for the general public, Mr. Chawdhry said these were used only by those who were handling swine flu patients, including doctors and paramedical staff. Even those screening passengers at international airports and those on security duty were using normal three-layered masks which were cheap and readily available, he said. “Shortages of any kind will not be tolerated. We have asked the States to be more vigilant.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry officials also met representatives of the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing Tamiflu for procurement of an additional two crore capsules.

“We worked out a delivery schedule with them to increase our stockpile. Our stock will touch 30 million capsules which will be enough to treat 30 lakh people suffering from this virus,” Mr. Chawdhry said. These would have a shelf life of four to five years. The pharma companies assured the officials of a “banking stock” of 7.2 million capsules with no cost to the government but when procured these would have to be paid for.

Asked whether the Centre proposed to ban Janmashtami celebrations to be held later this week, Mr. Chawdhry said it was for the people to decide whether they wanted to go for public gatherings or not, because the risk of contracting the disease at crowded places was higher.

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