Well done Roche

Filed Under Bird Flu

The news about bird flu has been a bit depressing today.

Indionesia has suffered its 24th death from the disease and avian flu marches forever onwards through the Asian countries - Pakistan is the latest country to report its presence in commercial poultry.

On the other hand we hear that Roche have donated 3 million doses of Tamiflu to the World Health Organisation (WHO) , with another two million placed in reserve for use in regions where a pandemic is most likely.

Reacting rapidly to a viral outbreak is critical in controlling its spread and the ability of a government to quickly distribute large quantities of anti viral drugs into an affected zone is vital. With this donation, the WHO can now help control the spread of the disease in countries who do not have the resources to create stockpiles of anti virals such as Tamiflu.

Of course Tamiflu must be one of the most sought after drugs worldwide at the moment, and Roche is already making huge profits as governments rush to stockpile, however the costs involved in creating and storing these five million doses is considerable.

Roche is putting something significant back into the world society - it must be applauded for this.