Government decides to allow retail sale of Tamiflu

The government today decided to allow retail sale of Oseltamivir, commonly known as Tamiflu, the only drug available to treat swine flu.

A senior health ministry official said a decision has been taken to allow sale of Tamiflu, the generic name of Oseltamivir, through 480 select drug outlets across the country.

Delhi has 30 such pharmacists. The drug would be available under the category in which drugs having narcotic substances are sold (Schedule X).

While selling these drugs, pharmacists have to keep a record of prescriptions, name of the doctor who has prescribed it and the person to whom it was sold.

Once the notification is issued tomorrow, select pharmacists can procure the drug from six companies which have the permission to manufacture the medicine.

The decision was taken after a meeting chaired by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and attended by senior officials.

The six companies are Ranbaxy, Cipla, Metco, Hetero, Strides and Roche. A total of 189 people have succumbed to swine flu in the country till date.