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Mary Ann Benitez

Centre for Health Protection says stockpile will not be nearly enough to protect the population in the event of a pandemic

The Centre for Health Protection said yesterday the 3.7 million Tamiflu tablets Hong Kong will have by the middle of the year are not nearly enough to protect the population in  the event of a flu pandemic.

About 2 million tablets of the anti-flu drug had been ordered and were expected to be delivered by June, centre controller Leung Pak-yin said.

These were  in addition to the 1.7 million tablets that had already been stockpiled by the end of last month.

Tamiflu has been shown to be effective against the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed six people in Vietnam in the past three weeks in the third wave of an outbreak that has ravaged poultry across Asia since last winter.

Expressing concern about the recent outbreak in Vietnam, Dr Leung said the centre was now trying to determine  how many tablets would be required in the event of an outbreak in Hong Kong and who should be provided with the drug, either as a treatment or a preventative medicine.

He noted that Australia, which had spent A$128 million ($758.6 million)  preparing for a possible flu pandemic, had secured a supply that could treat 20 per cent of its population.

Supplying 20 per cent of Hong Kong's nearly 7 million people with enough tablets for a five-day course would require 14 million tablets.

But Dr Leung said  Hong Kong should not necessarily follow Australia's lead.

The stockpiling and distribution of anti-virals is part of a draft preparedness plan for a major flu outbreak that was announced last month.

At $14 each, Tamiflu tablets are not cheap. Patients need to take the drug within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.

Those involved in culling poultry would be required to take Tamiflu once a day throughout a cull and seven days thereafter.

Frontline workers may have to take the drug for longer periods. The centre has asked government departments, the Hospital Authority and the public and private health sectors to assess their need for Tamiflu.

Dr Leung said the plan would be continuously refined according to World Health Organisation advice.

The goal was to ensure medical services could be maintained in the event of an outbreak.

Prompt treatment with Tamiflu was crucial for flu patients, Dr Leung said.

Quick tests for influenza A - the family of most human flu strains - will be conducted on all patients, with the results known within a few hours. If positive,  Tamiflu will be prescribed.

Unlike flu viruses that attack only the lungs, the H5N1 strain  attacks multiple organs, with a high mortality rate.



3.7m flu tabs by June, but still too few