PM to seek regional cooperation

Thailand will seek regional cooperation to lower the cost of the most popular anti-viral drug, while speeding up its domestic production of a separate vaccine to better manage the spread of type-A (H1N1) influenza.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand will ensure that its operations and those of commercial banks and other financial institutions are not paralysed if the outbreak gets worse.

Dr Buranat Samuttarak, the Democrat Party's spokesman, said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva would urge all Asean member countries to work together so that they could procure precursor materials for the production of the anti-viral drug oseltamivir at a lower cost.

Oseltamivir, which costs Bt25 per tablet, is currently the leading medicine for patients infected by the swine flu.

Thailand will later this week host the Asean Foreign Ministers' meeting in Phuket during which Abhisit will make his call for regional cooperation.

The premier yesterday opened a vaccine plant in Nakhon Pathom that should produce its first batch of vaccine against the pandemic flu around January.

The plant run by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) has the capacity to churn out up to 2.1 million doses per month.

Buranat said the premier would also seek regional technical cooperation on vaccine production during the Asean meeting in Phuket.

The GPO plant, which is awaiting seed viruses from Russia, will produce about two million doses of a live-attenuated vaccine against the type-A (H1N1) virus and 100,000 doses of an inactivated virus vaccine per month.

GPO chairman Wichai Chokwiwat said the government also ordered 2 million doses of a new vaccine against swine flu from Sanofi Pasteur and GlaxoSmithKline, with the first batch of one million doses due to arrive in December.

The second batch of imported vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline will be here in March. Both orders will cost Bt475 million.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said healthcare workers would be the first group to be injected while sufferers of chronic illnesses would be the next priority group.

The World Health Organisation said some patients in some countries were reported to be resistant to the current antiviral drug so governments are now closely monitoring the use of oseltamivir, which should not be given to those without any flu-like symptoms.

Dr Paijit Warachit, the Public Health Ministry's deputy permanent secretary, said no reports have surfaced about antiviral drug resistance in this country.

However, the drug will be administered to patients more quickly to reduce the fatality rate, especially those with an underlying disease, low immunity or obesity, as well as pregnant women, elderly people with a chronic disease and children under the age of five.

These groups of patient will be treated with oseltamivir on the first day they develop a high fever and are hospitalised, while general patients will be given the drug on the second or third day after they are admitted, Paijit said.

Meanwhile, Krirk Wanikkul, a central bank assistant governor, said the BOT has finalised a contingency plan to deal with the impacts of an outbreak on the country's payment and financial system.

For example, the central bank's staff will be divided into two groups with one working at the office and the other working from home so as to minimise infections among bank staff.