News reports are coming in that Tamiflu the bird flu drug is soon to be produced in the Far Eastern country of Indonesia. The Health Minister of Indonesia said that a state owned company that has experience in the pharamceutical business would soon be producing the oseltamivir which is the key ingredient of the Tamiflu medication. Indonesia has been one of the most hit countries in the world when it comes to the birdflu and it has been desperately trying to get its hands on the bird flu medication to aid its citizens in the event of a bird flu outbreak.

The patent for the Tamiflu drug belongs to Roche the Swiss pharmaceutical company which is desperately trying to meet the worldwide demand for the drug by issuing licences to other companies to produce the drug. Tamiflu is recommended by the WHO as an effective drug to beat bird flu in humans and could be the first line of defence if the H5N1 virus mutated and became very virulent between humans. At present it is very hard for humans to catch bird flu but if they do it can be deadly if not treated quickly.

The Health Minister of Indonesia said that production would start within a few months and they were hoping to produce around 5 million capsules of Tamiflu. The drug will be distributed by a government appointed company so that checks could be kept on the supply and demand of the drug in Indonesia and to stop the formation of a black market. There are also worries that if the Tamiflu is not taken and administered properly a resistance to the drug could form. The drug would also be given to 44 hospitals that have been assigned by the Indonesian government to cope with bird flu casulties and other health centres in areas where it might be needed.

In Indonesia the World Health Organisation has confirmed 57 bird flu infections and of these 44 died underlining the urgent need for the bird flu drug to be given quickly to people who get the virus. Worldwide the figures show that 224 people have got the bird flu virus and of these 127 have died.