The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche will consider allowing Taiwan to manufacture its drug Tamiflu under strict guidelines, a health official announced yesterday.
Tamiflu is only proven effective treatment for avian flu in humans, and the Swiss company owns the patent. In recent days, the government has said that to protect public health, it might go ahead and begin mass production of a generic version of Tamiflu with or without Roche's approval.
Department of Health Minister Hou Sheng-mou (
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
Hou wrote to Roche last Monday, requesting a license to produce Tamiflu.
Hou said that, as required by law, Taiwan would pay a fee to produce the medication, and that Taiwanese health officials will negotiate further details with Roche.
Hou reiterated that the most important thing for fighting bird flu, and avoiding a panic over the disease, is for people to maintain excellent personal hygiene.
"At present our main forms of protection are in the form of medication, immunization against the flu and looking after personal hygiene," Hou said.
Although flu shots will not protect against the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, health officials have urged the public to get the jabs to avoid getting a normal flu and panicking. Normal seasonal flus and the deadly bird flu have virtually indistinguishable symptoms.
Hou urged the public to "take precautions but don't overreact."
Li Jih-Heng (
He said that scientific models predicted that where treatment was available, deaths would decrease to three in every 10,0000. He advised the public to get flu immunizations to prevent the bird flu virus from mixing with the normal influenza to produce a new "supervirus" that could be transmitted between humans.
At an interdepartmental bird-flu defense meeting, government officials discussed tightening up regulations for testing birds in the country for bird flu.
The Department of Economic Development, the Taipei City Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Public Works Department and the Information Services Department attended the meeting.
Health official Song Yien-ren (
He also advised bird owners not to let their pets fly out into the open to avoid contact with birds which might be infected with bird flu.
Department of Economic Development officials said that regulations on activities in Taipei's "bird street" on Hoping W Road would also be tightened up.
Last week vendors on the street were asked to provide proof of their birds' origins, starting Wednesday. Officials said that a fines from NT$10,000 (US$300) to NT$50,000 would be enforced if proof of origin of purchase wasn't provided.
Furthermore, bird vendors have been required to register buyers so that in the event of a bird flu emergency, owners can be traced.
Meanwhile, the Malta Veterinary Service said yesterday that birds found dead on a ship at Malta Freeport on Sunday died of natural causes and not of avian flu.
Maltese authorities on Sunday had quarantined a container ship that had arrived from Taiwan as a precautionary measure against a possible bird flu outbreak, after two dead chickens were discovered on board, port officials said.
The Maltese dockers who discovered the dead chickens were decontaminated and the civil protection authority ordered the crew of the Cypriot-flagged Nordsuk to remain onboard.
The Nordusk stopped at the Saudi port of Jeddah on its voyage.
Maltese veterinary official Mireille Vella said the quarantine was imposed as a "precautionary measure."
Taiwan has not had an outbreak among its poultry of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, which has killed more than 60 people in Southeast Asia in the past three years.
Officials also released phone numbers the public can call to get general information on bird flu (1999) or more detailed information (2375-3782).
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
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