National Union of Pharmacies: Anti swine flu medecine “Oseltamivir” exists in 60% of the Algerian pharmacies

Distribution of this drug had covered at least 60% of the pharmacies, an official from the National Union of Pharmacists said here on Monday in Algiers.

• Head of the NUP, Messaoud Belmebri, said the process of supplying pharmacies with anti swine flu medicine “Oseltamivir” is still underway, as it covered at least 60% at the national level, and there is a network of 7900 pharmacies distributed in Algeria.
• “Coordination between the various offices of the NUP and the departments of public health is still underway to sensitize the pharmacies of the importance of this task, although providing the pharmacies with Oseltamivir is not compulsory”, he says.
• On the other hand Belmebri asserted that pharmacists can not give this medicine to patients only if they brought a prescription note that “Oseltamivir” remains the only treatment, which is described is this case.
• However, during a tour to dozens of pharmacies in Algiers, particularly in Kouba, Bir Mourad Rais and Hussein Dey, only one pharmacy contains of this drug.     
• A lot of pharmacists expressed their desire to participate in the campaign against swine flu which killed 47 people out of 746 confirmed cases.