Malaysia has only a fraction of the doses of the Tamiflu drug it would need in the event of a bird flu outbreak to treat 30 percent of its population, as recommended by a UN body.

Deputy Health Minister Abdul Latiff Ahmad said that Malaysia only had enough of the anti-viral drug for 60,000 people, instead of the 7.5 million doses it would need to treat 30 percent of the country's 25 million population.

"Health Minister Chua Soi Lek has asked for more allocations for national stockpiles in order to meet the World Health Organisation's recommendation," Abdul Latiff was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star newspaper.

One tablet cost RM7.80

The deputy minister said a tablet cost RM7.80, adding that an individual was required to take at least five tablets for proper treatment.

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche is providing Malaysia with the drug oseltamivir, sold under the brand name Tamiflu, which is considered a first line of defence against a potential flu pandemic.

The spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Asia since 2003 - which has led to 60 deaths in humans - and now Europe has prompted mass stockpiling of the drug by governments amid fears the virus could cause a human flu pandemic.

Malaysia is currently free from avian influenza but the country remains on full alert since the virus has hit neighbouring Indonesia and Thailand.