Caution No hospital in Pune has swine flu drug

State government arranging for stocks of drug that will only be supplied through government hospitals, discovers Vivek Sabnis

Caution No hospital in Pune has swine flu drug

State government arranging for stocks of drug that will only be supplied through government hospitals, discovers Vivek Sabnis

Government as well as private hospitals told MiD DAY on Wednesday that they were prepared to treat cases of swine flu.

However, Dnyaneshwar Narhare, president of the Chemists Association of Pune District (CAPD), says, there is no stock of Tamiflu theu00a0drug used to treat swine flu in the city.
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The state administration has decided to restrict the supply of the drug to state and central government hospitals.
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"There are strict directives not to supply these medicines to any private drug shop anywhere in the country," said Narhare.
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She added, "Tamiflu was supplied solely through government hospitals following the outbreak of bird flu at the Maharashtra-Gujarat border three years ago."

Mahendra Pitaliya, Co-coordinator, CAPD, said that the government may have to import the drug if the existing stock was inadequate, as increasing production on short notice would prove difficult.

Dr Renu Bharadwaj, head of the department of Microbiology at B J Medical College, attached to Sassoon Hospital, said, "We have placed an initial order for 1,000 tablets of Tamiflu with the joint director of health services of the state government."

Dr Roopchand Pardeshi, chief medical officer, PMC, and Dr D V Barathe, medical superintendent, PMC, said they have also placed an order for the drug with the government, as they do not have ready stock.

What is Tamiflu?

Dr Dakshayani Pandit, professor, Immunology, Maharashtra University of Health Science, Pune, said "Tamiflu is the commercial name of the original Oseltamivir drug manufactured by Roche, a multinational pharmaceutical company from Switzerland.

The Indian government is promoting this drug for the treatment of swine flu, as it is the main drug used for treating the condition the world over."

Apart from Roche, Cipla, Ranbaxy and Hetro Drugs also manufacture drugs to fight swine flu.

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