By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
State budget pressures are hampering the federal government's push to stockpile enough antiviral drugs to treat 25% of the U.S. population in a flu pandemic.
Two and a half years into the national stockpiling program, states and other entities have bought 71% of the 31 million courses of anti-virals the federal government targeted them to buy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says. One course treats one person.
The federally negotiated and subsidized contracts for the anti-virals Tamiflu and Relenza expire in June but may be extended, says HHS spokesman Bill Hall.
Some states' officials say they can't afford to stockpile or don't think it's the best use of limited funds. Others have ordered extra drugs. "We are faced with a very tight budget … and we have a lot of public health issues," says Judi Spann, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health.
It has bought 66,000 antiviral courses, 3.7% of the 1.8 million goal set for it, HHS says.
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The bird flu virus doesn't pass easily human-to-human. Health officials are concerned that someday it will, and that a vaccine won't be available for months after a pandemic starts. Anti-virals — No. 1-selling Tamiflu from Roche and Relenza from GlaxoSmithKline — shorten the flu's duration.
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Colorado has opted not to stockpile anti-virals. Chief medical officer Ned Calonge says cost was a factor. State officials also worried the drugs, which have to be taken within 48 hours of the onset of flu symptoms, may not be effective. Another concern was that anti-virals bought through the federal program couldn't be used for seasonal flus.
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Some states are just beginning to stockpile, such as Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Lousiana, meanwhile, has all of its 471,804 federally subsidized anti-virals in hand. It also bought 50,000 extra, ordered by two cities.
Disparities among states could lead to some populations being better protected than others, says Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a non-profit health advocacy group.
"Seventy percent is not adequate when you have pockets of the country with no or little coverage," he says.
More state purchases are expected soon, Hall says.
The federal government also has stockpiled 44 million courses, mostly Tamiflu, to cover 15% of the population in the states, territories and other regions. Calonge says the federal stash for Colorado more than covers its high-risk people and essential workers. The federal stockpile also has 6 million additional courses to contain an outbreak.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2008-04-09-flu-pandemic-antiviral-tamiflu_N.htm?csp=34
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