Tamiflu is an extremely difficult drug to produce quickly

The drug company Roche that makes the influenza medication Tamiflu has agreed to take steps to increase production of the drug in response to the United Kingdom’s recent huge order. Just a few days ago the Secretary of Health for the British government Mr. Alan Johnson announced that in line with the bird flu pandemic plan it had been decided to make sure that there was enough Tamiflu to treat 50% of the British population.

Previously the British government had enough Tamiflu to treat 25% of the population but after various scientists and bird flu experts said that the UK was not sufficiently protected it was decided to increase the Tamiflu stockpile. Not only is the British government increasing the amount of the Tamiflu drug but they have also spoken to GlaxoSmithKline about the possibility of getting the influenza drug Relenza.

Tamiflu is an extremely difficult drug to produce quickly and it is also expensive to produce. The key ingredient of the Tamiflu drug is found in the star anise plant which grows in the wild in remote parts of China. The process of getting the active ingredient of Tamiflu from the star anise plant is extremely complicated and involves a number of different steps.

The British government has also taken steps to buy 350 million surgical masks, 34 million respirators and an extra 14.7 million antibiotic courses as part of the bird flu pandemic plan. These will be mainly used by people who are on the front line and who have to deal with sick people who have already caught the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

While the British government has large stocks of Tamiflu there is no harm in getting your own supply of Tamiflu as a precaution for you, your family and friends.