Nairobi — Kenya, which confirmed its first swine flu case on Monday, has been promised cheaper and quicker access to the drug Tamiflu by its manufacturers.

Roche Holding AG of Switzerland on Wednesday unveiled a programme that could make the drug more accessible and cheaper to Kenya and a few other developing countries through either Unicef or the World Health Organisation.

According to the Minister for Public Health and Sanitation, Mrs Beth Mugo, the country through WHO had stockpiled 50,000 doses which the ministry plans to distribute to various health centres across the country. However, the stock can hardly be enough in case of a full blown emergency.

Separately, another Swiss drug maker, Novartis AG, announced the development of what could be the world's first swine flu vaccine.

A fortnight ago, the company said it had successfully produced the first batch of swine flu vaccine - weeks ahead of expectations - and could be available for use by September.

Novartis said it could produce millions of doses per week and already more than 30 countries had requested for supplies.

Kenyans may on Wednesday get an indication of the swine flu spread in the country when results of samples collected from the 34 Britons, now quarantined in Kisumu, are released.

Meanwhile, Kenyatta National Hospital has established an isolation area to handle any case detected there.

Isolation area

According to the hospital's public relations officer, Mr Simon Ithai, the area is located near the casualty department because it is the most likely place any patient would get the first contact with the hospital.

In an interview with the Nation on Wednesday, Mr Ithai said the hospital had issued the first line medical staff a list of questions to ask any suspect.

He said coincidentally, the staff at the hospital had a few weeks ago been trained on how to handle a swine flu outbreak by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additional reporting by Arthur Okwemba