Asia will receive a stockpile of 500,000 courses of H1N1 flu drugs by April next year to supplement any shortfall in the region, an official with a Japanese donor agency said on Tuesday.
The $18 million stockpile is funded by the Japan Trust Fund and is a joint initiative by Japan and the Asia-Europe Meeting, an intercontinental dialogue and cooperation platform.
"The stockpile will be channeled to the Asian countries that need it most, as decided by the World Health Organization," Naoko Noda, adviser to the Japan International Cooperation System, told Reuters on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe Foundation pandemic preparedness seminar.
The stockpile will be based in Singapore and will include 400,400 courses of Tamiflu, made by Roche Holding AG, and 100,000 of GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza antiviral drug.
It is being established as the winter flu season starts to take a grip in the northern hemisphere.
According to the WHO, the pandemic virus has now spread to 206 countries, with the latest reported laboratory-confirmed cases in Somalia, Nigeria and Burundi. There have been more than 6,250 deaths to date, mostly in the Americas, according to the WHO toll.
The $18 million stockpile is funded by the Japan Trust Fund and is a joint initiative by Japan and the Asia-Europe Meeting, an intercontinental dialogue and cooperation platform.
"The stockpile will be channeled to the Asian countries that need it most, as decided by the World Health Organization," Naoko Noda, adviser to the Japan International Cooperation System, told Reuters on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe Foundation pandemic preparedness seminar.
The stockpile will be based in Singapore and will include 400,400 courses of Tamiflu, made by Roche Holding AG, and 100,000 of GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza antiviral drug.
It is being established as the winter flu season starts to take a grip in the northern hemisphere.
According to the WHO, the pandemic virus has now spread to 206 countries, with the latest reported laboratory-confirmed cases in Somalia, Nigeria and Burundi. There have been more than 6,250 deaths to date, mostly in the Americas, according to the WHO toll.
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