Bird flu pills to reach drug stores

JAKARTA: People will soon have better access to influenza medicine Tamiflu, with the Food and Drugs Control Agency approving its distribution in late September.

Agency deputy for therapeutic and hazardous substances Lucky Slamet said on Tuesday that only patients that had initially tested positive with the bird flu virus and who had doctors prescriptions could buy the medicine.

"Without control from doctors, patients could suffer negative side-effects. Many patients in China and Vietnam, where the medicines have been widely used to contain the bird flu outbreak, have suffered these ill effects because of over-consumption of the drug," he said.

The government was trying to make it easier for those suspected of having bird flu to get immediate medical treatment, he said.

Indonesia currently has 25,000 boxes of Tamiflu, or 250,000 doses of medicine, Lucky said. -- JP