UK News 04-03-2005 who: Health Secretary John Reid what: Says a flu pandemic could kill 50,000 people in Britain when: Tuesday snippet: The government is ordering a stockpile of 14.6 million courses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu after health experts worldwide warned of the likelihood of a deadly outbreak. The times calls it "a £200 million insurance policy". In other health news, Health Protection Agency (HPA) figures showed that people who use sports clubs and gyms are at a higher risk of contracting the "superbug" MRSA; a study in The British Medical Journal, reported by The Mirror, says "nearly 11,000 people a year are killed by passive smoking"; Wednesday`s Times reports that Bill Gates, "the world`s biggest private donor to vaccine research", has dismissed Gordon Brown`s recent prediction that "a preventative vaccine for HIV could be available as early as 2012"; and a reports in The Scotsman says "one in thirty of all recorded deaths [in Scotland] are alcohol related". [... more]

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