50 packs of Tamiflu reach Cyprus

A DIPLOMATIC bag containing the anti-viral drug Tamiflu arrived in Cyprus on Friday but experts say its contents are not nearly enough to cover the population’s needs if a pandemic breaks out.

The sack, sent by the Cypriot Embassy in Berlin, weighed just three kilos and contained around 50 boxes, which amounts to around 500 capsules.
Tamiflu is seen as the best defence in case of human infection from bird flu.

While the European Commission is warning that each country should have enough Tamiflu in stock to cover 25 per cent of its population, it seems that Cyprus has been provided with enough to cover just 50 people.

Tamiflu is available in boxes of ten capsules of 75 mg and adults are meant to take two a day for five days.

Talking to Sunday Mail yesterday, Health Minister Andreas Gavrielides confirmed that 50 boxes of Tamiflu had been received and said the Ministry was expecting more within the next few weeks.

“Yes, the Ministry has received a small amount of capsules and has made requests to other countries, which have given a positive response.”

The Minister was keen to assure the public that the possibilities of a pandemic were extremely low and that the amount received for the moment was more than enough.

“The European decision (that 25 per cent of the population should be covered) appears very excessive. During the meeting, the Hungarian Health Minister suggested that the situation be re-evaluated”, he said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.