Canada adds 500,000 doses of second flu drug, Relenza, to pandemic stockpile

It's an approach British experts urged that country's government to take this week. A report from the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences expressed concern that Britain has not diversified its flu drug stockpile.

"We are concerned that decisions are being made . . . that fail to take account of expert advice," said Sir John Skehel, chair of the working group that wrote the analysis of Britain's pandemic preparedness efforts. "For example, the decision to continue to stockpile just one antiviral drug is a major concern."

"This needs to be reconsidered," Skehel said. "New evidence that H5N1 can develop resistance to Tamiflu indicates that a combination of antivirals should be stockpiled by the U.K. for the most effective management of a pandemic."

The cost of amassing Canada's national antiviral stockpile has been shared by the federal, provincial and territorial governments.

In addition to the national reserve, provinces and territories hold another 1.6 million treatment courses of Tamiflu. And several key federal agencies - the Department of National Defence among them - hold a combined 700,000 treatment courses of the drug.

The Relenza contract negotiated by Public Works and Government Services Canada - the federal government's purchasing arm - also includes another 200,000 treatment units of Relenza for other clients, Desroches said.

He said he could not name the purchasers, other than to say some were provincial governments and others were institutional clients.

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