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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="95%" align=center><TBODY><TR><TD class=spacer_5px><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>Publication Date: 09-09-2009 </TD></TR><TR><TD class=spacer_ver10px style38></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=bg_dotted01></TD></TR><TR><TD class=spacer_5px>
Taiwan health authorities Tuesday said the government will pay for complete drug coverage of Tamiflu, in a move to refrain from adding to the fiscal outlay of the financially-battered Bureau of the National Health Insurance (BNHI).
This will account for consumption of the antiviral medication going forward as well as those dating back to August 15, the day the BNHI originally picked up the costs.
During a meeting convened by Vice Premier Paul Chiu at the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), officials noted the widening epidemic and pointed to the high volumes of patients recently seeking flu evaluations at hospitals before making the announcement to alleviate potential BHNI budget woes.
<TABLE border=0 borderColor=#cccccc cellPadding=8 align=right ?cellspacing="0"><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-2307967572571578"; /* Inside news 250x250 */ google_ad_slot = "6111004387"; google_ad_width = 250; google_ad_height = 250; //--> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.goog le_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Previously, taxpayers' money covered hospitalised cases and those involved in possible group contagions.
The BHNI only paid for those with mild bouts of the disease who test positive for the novel flu via rapid influenza diagnostic tests.
Meanwhile, sole local vaccine manufacturer Adimmune Corp. Tuesday said the company had entered the fill-and-finish step of vaccine production, where vaccines are filled into vials, and will begin clinical trials in adults and children in two weeks.
The filling stage indicates that the vaccine has passed many drug evaluations and that the dosage is largely established, according to the CNA.
Each volunteer will be administered one shot of vaccine followed by a booster shot, according to Adimmune.
But Steve Kuo, the director general of the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), said the Cabinet-level health department is in the process of gathering information to assess the potency of a one-shot protection.
The health department will make its final decision by consulting with international drug laws and standards, assuring the public that it would not overlook safety and the required effectiveness of the vaccine.
Results of the clinical trials will be released by November 12 at the soonest, said Kuo, who declined to remark when officials would provide a vaccination timeline.
Meanwhile, the company has already recruited 250 adults to participate in clinical trials which will be conducted at the National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital, the Tri-Service General Hospital and the Taipei Medical University Wan Fang Hospital.
All openings for adults have been filled, while only a small number of openings for children are still available, said Huang Li-min, the chief of pediatrics at NTU, who is also overseeing the study.
Most of the participants will be administered the two requisite shots and the rest will be given only one, said Huang.
The purpose of having two separate experimental groups is to understand how much antigen will be needed to produce the necessary antibodies to fight the virus and whether or not a single shot can be effective, Huang added.
Inoculation will begin this fall, starting with health care workers, pregnant women, and children between 6 months and 6 years of age.
In addition to the 10 million doses of A(H1N1) vaccine produced by Adimmune, the DOH has purchased another five million doses of vaccine from Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis.
http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?id=7690
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This will account for consumption of the antiviral medication going forward as well as those dating back to August 15, the day the BNHI originally picked up the costs.
During a meeting convened by Vice Premier Paul Chiu at the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), officials noted the widening epidemic and pointed to the high volumes of patients recently seeking flu evaluations at hospitals before making the announcement to alleviate potential BHNI budget woes.
<TABLE border=0 borderColor=#cccccc cellPadding=8 align=right ?cellspacing="0"><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-2307967572571578"; /* Inside news 250x250 */ google_ad_slot = "6111004387"; google_ad_width = 250; google_ad_height = 250; //--> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.goog le_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Previously, taxpayers' money covered hospitalised cases and those involved in possible group contagions.
The BHNI only paid for those with mild bouts of the disease who test positive for the novel flu via rapid influenza diagnostic tests.
Meanwhile, sole local vaccine manufacturer Adimmune Corp. Tuesday said the company had entered the fill-and-finish step of vaccine production, where vaccines are filled into vials, and will begin clinical trials in adults and children in two weeks.
The filling stage indicates that the vaccine has passed many drug evaluations and that the dosage is largely established, according to the CNA.
Each volunteer will be administered one shot of vaccine followed by a booster shot, according to Adimmune.
But Steve Kuo, the director general of the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), said the Cabinet-level health department is in the process of gathering information to assess the potency of a one-shot protection.
The health department will make its final decision by consulting with international drug laws and standards, assuring the public that it would not overlook safety and the required effectiveness of the vaccine.
Results of the clinical trials will be released by November 12 at the soonest, said Kuo, who declined to remark when officials would provide a vaccination timeline.
Meanwhile, the company has already recruited 250 adults to participate in clinical trials which will be conducted at the National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital, the Tri-Service General Hospital and the Taipei Medical University Wan Fang Hospital.
All openings for adults have been filled, while only a small number of openings for children are still available, said Huang Li-min, the chief of pediatrics at NTU, who is also overseeing the study.
Most of the participants will be administered the two requisite shots and the rest will be given only one, said Huang.
The purpose of having two separate experimental groups is to understand how much antigen will be needed to produce the necessary antibodies to fight the virus and whether or not a single shot can be effective, Huang added.
Inoculation will begin this fall, starting with health care workers, pregnant women, and children between 6 months and 6 years of age.
In addition to the 10 million doses of A(H1N1) vaccine produced by Adimmune, the DOH has purchased another five million doses of vaccine from Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis.
http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?id=7690