February 4, 2005
For Immediate Release

News Release

Minister Dosanjh announces federal contribution towards creation of a national antiviral stockpile

VANCOUVER - Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh announced today a federal contribution of $24 million towards the creation a national antiviral stockpile for use against an influenza pandemic. The federal investment, along with additional contributions from provincial and territorial partners, will go towards the purchase of the antiviral oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) which is used for the prevention and early treatment of influenza.

"Canada is recognized as a world leader in pandemic preparedness," said Minister Dosanjh. "The creation of a national antiviral stockpile further demonstrates the federal government's commitment to protecting the health and safety of Canadians and our multi-faceted approach to preparing for an influenza pandemic and other infectious disease outbreaks."

The national antiviral stockpile will be used to treat identified priority groups agreed upon by a national expert advisory committee on pandemic influenza. The priority groups include, for example, those hospitalized for influenza.

The federal contribution goes towards purchasing 9.6 million doses of antivirals which is enough to treat 960,000 people. Further contributions from the provinces and territories are expected to bring the size of the national stockpile up to 16 million doses - the target recommended by the national expert advisory committee. This supplements the 850,000 doses of oseltamivir currently in the federal National Emergency Stockpile System.

"Influenza pandemics are recurring events but no one can predict when and where they will strike. What we can do, however, is take all reasonable measures to be prepared," added Dr. Carolyn Bennett, Minister of State (Public Health). "It will take some time to produce a vaccine against a pandemic strain of influenza and, until that vaccine is available, antivirals will be an important part of our response to a pandemic."

Influenza viruses continually change over time. Usually, the changes are minor and people have built up protection in their immune systems from previous infections. Three or four times each century, for unknown reasons, a radical change takes place in the influenza A virus, creating a completely new strain of influenza that people have no immunity against. As a consequence, this new virus can spread quickly from person to person and develop into a pandemic.

"There is a limited global supply of oseltamivir and, in the event of a pandemic, this supply would quickly become unavailable. Purchasing antivirals now is a prudent step in ensuring Canada is well-prepared to respond to an influenza pandemic," explained Dr. David Butler-Jones, Chief Public Health Officer.

"It is important to remember that people with underlying chronic diseases and weakened immune systems will likely be most vulnerable during a pandemic," added Dr. Butler-Jones. "Beyond our specific preparations for a pandemic and other infectious disease outbreaks, we have to work on improving the overall health of Canadians so that they will be less vulnerable to these types of outbreaks."

The antiviral purchase is one component of Canada's overall planning for an influenza pandemic. The Public Health Agency of Canada, together with other federal government departments and provincial and territorial governments, has taken and continues to take action in a number of areas to protect Canadians. Other activities include:

• Maintaining the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan, which maps out how Canada will prepare for and respond to a pandemic;
• Establishing a domestic pandemic vaccine supply capacity. Canada is the first country in the world to plan for a secure vaccine supply through the contracting of a domestic supplier;
• Managing a real-time alert system for serious respiratory illnesses (SRIs), including SARS, to ensure timely dissemination of information to the provinces and territories;
• Establishing a hospital-based surveillance system to detect cases and clusters of severe or emerging respiratory infections and to effectively prevent and contain their spread in acute care facilities.

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Backgrounder

• Antivirals
• Frequently Asked Questions - Avian Influenza
• Frequently Asked Questions - Pandemic

Media Inquiries:

Aggie Adamczyk
Public Health Agency of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
(613) 941-8189

Adèle Blanchard
Office of the Minister of Health
(613) 957-0200