Calls Grow For Anti-Bird Flu Drug

Taiwan joined an increasing number of Asian governments that are seeking to produce the anti-bird flu drug Tamiflu, while Indonesia reported its 12th human case of the disease on Saturday.

Countries around the world are trying to stockpile Tamiflu, which helps reduce flu symptoms in humans, in case there is a human pandemic. Experts fear it could happen if the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus mutates into a form that passes easily between people.

So far, Indonesia and Vietnam have secured permission from Swiss-based drug maker Roche Holding AG to produce the medicine on their own. Other countries are in talks with the company.

Japan will need at least two years to reach its goal of stockpiling enough Tamiflu for 21 million people, Kyodo News agency said Saturday.

Tamiflu is widely used in Japan, which was hit by bird flu last year for the first time in decades.

People from Japan accounted for 24 million of the 32 million treated with the drug since its approval in 1999, according to Roche.

Taiwan's Intellectual Property Office said the island would request a "compulsory license" to make Tamiflu once its Roche-supplied stocks are used up if Roche does not agree to let a local company make the drug.

World Trade Organization regulations allow for drug patents to be violated in medical emergencies, if the patent holder is compensated later.

Roche expressed surprise at Taiwan's announcement. In a statement on its Web site, it said Taiwan's move was unnecessary because "agreed delivery timelines will be met by Roche." The company confirmed it would complete delivery of 2.3 million Tamiflu treatments, covering 10 percent of Taiwan's population, next year.

On Friday, Roche said Indonesia could produce Tamiflu on the condition it did not export it.

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Saturday that Indonesia hopes to start producing the drug within five months, and wants to stockpile enough to treat about 22 million people, around a tenth of its population.

"We don't want Indonesia to become the source of a bird flu pandemic," Supari told reporters. "This shows that we are serious in dealing with bird flu."

Earlier Saturday, Indonesian health officials confirmed that a 16-year-old boy had tested positive for H5N1, bringing to 12 the number of cases reported in Indonesia. Seven have been fatal.

Senior Health Ministry official Hariadi Wibisono said the boy, from the town of Bandung, about 95 miles south of the capital, Jakarta, probably had contact with infected chickens. His condition was not immediately clear.

H5N1 has been found in 23 of Indonesia's 30 provinces.

In Vietnam, a man suspected of having H5N1 fled from a hospital quarantine unit, state-controlled media reported Friday.

Officials in his home province have been trying to persuade him to return to the hospital, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said.

At least 68 people have died from virus in Asia since 2003, mostly in Vietnam. Almost all cases have been linked to contact with sick poultry.

China detected a new H5N1 outbreak in its northern Inner Mongolia region, the Agricultural Ministry said Friday, bringing the country's number of outbreaks in recent weeks to at least 22.

China, which has the world's largest number of chickens, has called bird flu a "serious epidemic." Earlier this week, it confirmed its second human death from the disease.