P80-M bird flu drugs to expire in Nov. 2007

Anti-bird flu medicines worth about P80 million which the government has stockpiled for fear that the avian influenza virus might enter the country are set to expire in November next year, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

"We cannot compare medicines with food. We can eat food that is about to expire but we cannot take medicines unless we need them. And we don’t want to have bird flu just to be able to use our stockpiles," Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.

But Duque claimed the DOH does not want the medicines wasted, thus it is now coordinating with the Indonesian and Thai governments to swap the Tamiflu drugs with the two countries’ supplies that have longer expiration periods.

"We asked them if we could swap medicines. We are still waiting for their responses," he said.

Duque said the DOH might also distribute the medicines to hospitals across the country so they could be used for other viral infections.

United Laboratories donated P65 million worth of the anti-bird flu drugs, while the rest were donated by the World Health Organization (WHO) or bought by the DOH.

The DOH started stockpiling the medicines last year for fear that avian influenza might find its way into the country.

The Philippines, however, has remained free of the virus, which has ravaged neighboring countries, including Indonesia and Thailand.

Other countries where cases of avian influenza have been reported included Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, and Turkey.

This year alone, the WHO recorded a total of 104 avian influenza cases in the region.

Meanwhile, Duque urged the public to keep a 100-meter distance while watching migratory birds, which usually start flocking to the country in October when winter sets in in countries in the southern hemisphere.

Migratory birds are being closely monitored for fear that they might carry the bird flu virus.

Hunters were also discouraged from preying on the migratory birds because this can drive them away and force them to mix with local birds and poultry.

Duque said poultry raisers should also make sure that their ducks, geese and chickens would not get near the sanctuaries of these migratory birds to protect them against bird flu.

He said the government is now closely watching over 21 wetlands frequented by migratory birds across the country.