Stocks of anti-viral medications in the Capital have run dry in the wake of swine flu ‘epidemic’. With swine flu going the whole hog, New Delhi Medico — the only drugstore near Ram Manohar lohia Hospital authorised to sell anti-viral drugs — has depleted its stock.
There was an ample supply of anti-viral Tamiflu, the pharmacy clarified, but meds soon ran dry with no new supplies expected until Monday. Not having a stockpile of the drug too is worrying frontline health workers and caregivers.
New Delhi Medico sold around 80 boxes of drugs — capsules and syrups — on Sunday alone. According to the pharmacy, drug companies need to ramp up production to meet demands.
There have been several cases of swine flu recorded in the Capital alone with last week being the most hard-hit. Said head chemist Pradeep Singh, “There are two drugs that cure swine flu — one by Hetero Drugs called Fluvir and the other by Cipla called Antiflow. We have contacted the companies but they too are out of stock. The intervening holidays have made it impossible for us to get more meds. We sell drugs to nearly 550 patients every day but last week this number was off the charts.” The Health Ministry is aware of the problem but hasn’t acted. No one from the Health Ministry was available for comment on Sunday.