French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand announced on Wednesday that France will stockpile millions of antivirus drugs and face masks to cope with any flu pandemic in France.

"Recent events in Turkey show that the threat (of a flu pandemic) has to be taken most seriously," Bertrand said.

Fifteen people have been detected with bird flu in Turkey, on Europe's southeastern rim, two of whom have died.

In 2007 France will have a reserve of 33 million antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, which stand at around 13.8 million doses in 2005.

These drugs will be freely released by doctors and at hospitals in case that the H5N1 strain of bird flu mutates into a transmissible form among humans.

The French minister also said that 200 million professional- quality face masks would also be stockpiled for use by health workers likely to be in close proximity to flu-infected patients.

By the end of 2006, a billion face masks will be available for distribution to the general public, to discourage the spread of virus-laden droplets by coughing and sneezing.

In addition, France had reserved 40 million doses for vaccine against the transformed H5N1 virus.

Source: Xinhua