The Gujarat Food and Drug Control Authority (FDCA) has asked the citizens not to panic over the swine flu epidemic and have assured them that there will be no dearth in the availability of the drugs in the state. To ensure timely treatment of swine flu patients, Gujarat FDCA has taken all measures to ensure adequate stock of swine flu medicines across all the chemists’ shops, government and public service units across the state.

In fact, the state drug regulator has been advertising and putting the details of all the 800 chemists across the state having the license to sell Schedule X drugs. Only special license holders are allowed to stock and sell medicines under the Schedule X like the swine flu drug Tamiflu to the patients.

Dr Hemant Koshia, commisioner of Gujarat FDCA noted that there has been no single case of swine flu death in the state due to lack of availability of drugs. “We have been persistently working  to be in touch with authorities across all the districts. From last few weeks my office along with key officials from the state health department have been video conferencing with the district magistrate and health officials across all the districts to review and get a stock of the current situation and availability of medicines in their respective places. We have even directed the chemists shops having license to put a board outside their shops on the swine flu drug availability in their shops to guide patients more effectively.”

Since Gujarat does not have any manufacturers of the swine flu drugs, the Gujarat FDCA have been working very closely with the DCGI and the state drug controllers of Goa and Himachal Pradesh since the outbreak in the state. Only few states and pharma companies, having got the DCGI’s approval,  have the right to manufacture drugs for swine flu.

It is understood that under the pressing condition to meet the growing demand of swine flu drugs in the country, the DCGI had recently extended the permission to manufacture swine flu drugs to companies like Natco, Cipla, Hetero etc.