The Health Ministry is currently setting retail prices for the drug Tamiflu, used to treat bird flu (H5N1) and swine flu (H1N1), before allowing its sale at local pharmacies. According to the ministry, the drug will only be sold with a prescription from a specialized doctor.
As for the anti-swine flu vaccine, the ministry announced that it had received 150,000 doses to date, which it will soon begin distributing throughout the provinces.
On Tuesday, the ministry announced Egypt’s 33rd fatality resulting from swine flu. Saneya Saad of Alexandria, 54 years old–who had already been suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and respiratory ailments–was hospitalized on 2 December and succumbed to the illness six days later.
In a related development, Laila Negm, medical affairs director at the Cairo-based Arab League, said a committee had been drawn up to establish precautionary measures aimed at protecting the league’s many Arab and foreign guests. The league is also expected to sign a memorandum of cooperation with the World Health Organization’s East Mediterranean Regional Office on means of combating potential epidemics in 19 Arab countries of the region.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Yousry el-Gamal announced that the rate of H1N1 infections at the country’s schools and universities had stabilized, noting that all educational institutions were currently implementing preventative measures outlined by the ministry.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
