4 pharmaceuticals permitted to produce Oseltamivir capsule

Over 10 lakh anti-Swine flu capsules to be supplied to hospitals
A total of 10.5 lakh Oseltamivir capsules are being supplied across the country for the treatment of the swine flow affected patients.
One and a half lakh swine infected patients can be treated with this volume of supply, said SM Alamgir Hossain, Virologist of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research Centre (IEDCR) while talking to the New Nation correspondent over phone yesterday.
These capsules will be supplied to all the upazila level state run hospitals. It will also be available at private pharmacies, but can not be sold with the prescription of registered physicians, he added.
The government has given permission to four pharmaceutical companies to produce oseltamivir capsule and market it. The companies are Popular, Square, Glaxco and SKF pharmaceuticals.
The country has a stock of 29 lakh Oseltamivir capsules at the moment, Alamgir informed.
Earlier on Thursday, the Health and Family Welfare Ministry gave permission for marketing swine flu medicine Oseltamivir capsule after a view exchange meeting with the managements of private hospitals and clinics in the city with Minister for Health Dr. AFM Ruhul Haque.
Alamgir said that the people suffering from fever with influenza and cough should remain inside their houses without getting panicky. Patients only with respiratory complication need to be hospitalised for treatment, he added.
Prime Minister’s Health Adviser Syed Mudasser Ali yesterday urged all not to be scared about Swine Flu as the government is prepared enough to combat the pandemic.
“There is no reason to be panicky about swine flu. The government has already taken enough preparation to tackle the situation,” he told reporters.
Mentioning that Bangladesh is much more competent in tackling flu-related diseases than many countries in the world, he said necessary preparations have been taken at the district level too to face any emergency.
The World Health Organisation will provide all necessary assistance to Bangladesh in preventing the spread of swine flu. The assurance came when Executive Director of WHO Margaret Chan paid a call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her suite at Hotel Kempns in Geneva.
Briefing to the media after the meeting, PM’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said Sheikh Hasina told the WHO executive that the Bangladesh government is fully aware about spread of the virus and has taken necessary precautionary measures to tackle the scourge.
Hasina said she already has asked the pharmaceutical companies to halt the export of medicines for now to face any crisis to be caused by the swine flu.
“The present pro-people government is monitoring every aspect of the spread of swine-flu virus in Bangladesh,” she told the UN health agency.
The WHO executive director suggested the Prime Minister to keep Bangladesh’s health workers and security agencies’ members sound on priority basis for the interest of keeping the common people safe from attack of the virus.

Curtesy of The New Nation