# 657
A last minute move by the Florida House of Representatives has put the option of purchasing discounted Tamiflu from Roche back on the table. This time yesterday morning, it appeared that the issue was dead in the water.
This report from the Orlando Sentinel.
House backs plan to buy stockpile of flu drugs
By Linda Kleindienst
Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Posted April 12 2007TALLAHASSEE · The Florida House on Wednesday decided the state should start making preparations for a possible outbreak of bird flu by buying a stockpile of medicine.
House members approved a proposal by Rep. Shelley Vana, D-West Palm Beach, to set aside $8 million in the $70 billion-plus state budget to buy anti-viral drugs. The Senate has earmarked no money for the program.
During budget negotiations, the two chambers will decide how much they want the state to spend.
Gov. Charlie Crist had asked for a $36 million commitment to enable Florida to buy enough drugs to treat 4.8 million people. The federal government and 49 other states have already begun buying the treatments. A contract the federal government worked out last year with two pharmaceutical companies allows the states to purchase the drugs at reduced cost.
"Florida must take advantage of the federal funds being made available to states so we can stockpile flu vaccines," Vana said. "We have learned the value of being prepared, and appropriating the $8 million today is a first step to ensure our state will be ready should we face a flu pandemic."
The Florida House, and Rep. Shelley Vana are to be congratulated for making this last minute stand. It was the right thing to do.
It isn't too late to let your representatives know that you want, and expect, the state to take reasonable steps to prepare for a pandemic.
Flutrackers continues to raise awareness on this issue, and anyone interested in this cause, or in learning more about avian flu, should visit their site. In a little more than a year, they have grown into one of the best sources of flu information on the web.
Highly recommended.
