The World Health Organisation plans to spend $500m on antiviral drugs from Roche to tackle pandemic flu in low-income countries, although another supplier would be cheaper, according to a United Nations fund-raising document.

A request for $1.5bn (€1bn, £904m) to help fight pandemic flu is circulating among rich nations; more than a third of this is for 65m courses of Tamiflu to be provided “under an agreement between Roche and WHO”.