Daily Mail Employees To Get Free Tamiflu

UK Government plans only cover 25 percent of the population

The company that produces the Daily Mail newspaper is organising a plan which will allow all their staff to get access to influenza medication to protect them from a global bird flu pandemic. Not only will be individual staff be given drugs but also close friends and family of the employees would also be given them as part of the Pandemic Influenza Management Scheme.

According to Ken Thompson who is the Daily Mail’s group employment affairs director they were merely reacting to “recent scientific” reports which have highlighted the dangers of a full out influenza pandemic. A letter explaining exactly who is eligible for the influenza drugs has been sent out to all employees and it was explained that the H5N1 bird flu virus was likely to mutate into a form which could easily be passed between humans.

The letter also stated that there had been three worldwide pandemics in the twentieth century and that it was certain that another one would be occurring soon, which as well as causing illness and death would also result in a “significant and sustained” disruption to the Daily Mail’s business. The letter explains that employees would be offered the influenza medication Tamiflu which while it would not provide 100 percent immunity from the H5N1 bird flu virus, it would significantly improve the chances of surviving an infection from it.

Ken Thompson also pointed out that while the government had vast stocks files of the Tamiflu influenza medication it did not have enough to give everybody in the United Kingdom and its plans only covered 25 percent of the population. Many British companies are copying the trend which started in the United States where companies organise their own stockpiles of the Tamiflu drug to use for their own employees as opposed to relying on the state supplies.

A definite vaccine to completely safeguard humans from the H5N1 bird flu virus cannot be developed until it mutates into a very contagious form and this could take as long as 6 months to become available. Therefore the World Health Organisation recommends the use of Tamiflu as the best defence against the disease.