France to order 10 million extra Tamiflu doses

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France said on Thursday it would order an extra 10 million doses of Roche’s antiviral medicine Tamiflu, one of the best defences against bird flu in humans.

Health Minister Xavier Bertrand told Le Parisien newspaper he would also be ordering extra supplies of GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s antiviral drug Relenza.

French authorities have said they had 13.8 million doses of Tamiflu for 2005.

"Between now and the end of the week, I’m going to order 10 million extra doses of Tamiflu as well as some Relenza,” said Bertrand.

Relenza is believed to be as effective as Tamiflu but is less appealing because it is a powder that must be inhaled.

Bertrand said French hospitals had 50 million masks available and there would be 200 million by the beginning of next year. “Our aim is to get to 600 millions masks, which will be made in France,” he said.

Bertrand said heat cameras capable of detecting a high temperature in passengers would be installed at international airports in France. 

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