# 3428
The HHS has just released a statement announcing that they are sending 420,000 treatment courses of Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) to PAHO (the Pan American Health Organization) for use in Latin American and the Caribbean.
The U.S. has over the past few years maintained a stockpile of several million courses of Tamiflu intended for use in other countries.
The original idea was that it could be used to slow (or even stop) the spread of an outbreak somewhere in the world. Now, however, it is being looked at for its humanitarian uses.
The U.S. sent a similar quantity of Tamiflu to Mexico in late April.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 2, 2009Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343U.S. to Provide Antiviral Medication to Latin America and the Caribbean for Novel H1N1 Influenza
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that the United States will provide 420,000 treatment courses of Tamiflu (Oseltamavir) to the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) to fight the novel H1N1 influenza in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Secretary made the announcement while attending a series of high-level meetings for health ministers throughout the Americas in Cancun, Mexico.
“The U.S is committed to supporting and enhancing the health security in the region by reducing transmission and severity of illness,” Sebelius told officials in Cancun. “Viruses know no borders. The U.S. recognizes that a novel virus such as the H1N1 is a burden borne by all nations, and all of us have a responsibility to help support one another in the face of this challenge.”
On June 23, HHS received a request from PAHO to partner with the U.S government to increase the PAHO stockpile of Tamiflu in the regional stockpile available for Latin America and the Caribbean countries. PAHO is working to ensure that its member countries have the capacity and resources to respond to outbreaks of H1N1.
HHS holds approximately 50 million courses of antiviral medications in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). In April, HHS deployed 11 million treatment courses from the SNS to the states across the country to fight the H1N1 influenza. Since then, HHS has purchased antiviral drugs to replenish the SNS along with an additional 2 million treatment courses.
