08/April/2020,12:51 AM,India,Times Of Lion
India, the world’s largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, had put a temporary export ban on the drug in order to it domestic stocks.
according to India’s Business Standard, manufacturers in the country have the ability to produce around 100 tonnes of the drug per month if needed – enough to treat some 70m people.
US president called Modi and threatened ‘retaliation’ if country kept full export ban
India has agreed to lift an export ban on a drug US President Donald Trump has called a “game-changer” in the fight against coronavirus, despite reservations from medical experts.
India is one of the world’s largest producers of pharmaceuticals and last month put export restrictions on dozens of drugs, including paracetamol and various antibiotics, in order to preserve domestic supply. The Indian government confirmed on Tuesday they would also be partially lifting the ban on paracetamol exports.
The decision came after Mr Trump warned of “retaliation” if India did not drop the ban on hydroxychloroquine exports.
The president has repeatedly touted the drug as a possible cure for Covid-19, despite a lack of proof.
India is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of hydroxychloroquine.
It is unclear how much will now be exported. Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said on Tuesday that the “the stock position could allow our companies to meet the export commitments that they had contracted”.
What happened between the US and India?
President Trump – who, according to the New York Times, owns a “small personal financial interest in Sanofi , the French drugmaker that makes… the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine” – called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, a day after India banned all exports of the drug “without exception”.
The decision came even as Indian cases spiked – as of Tuesday, the country reported 3,981 active cases and 114 deaths due to the virus.
The next day, local media reported that India would “consider” the request.
What is hydroxychloroquine?
Hydroxychloroquine is very similar to chloroquine, one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs.
But the drug – which can also treat auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus – has also attracted attention over the past few decades as a potential antiviral agent.
President Trump said that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved it for treating coronavirus, something the organization has denied. Mr Trump later said that it had been approved for “compassionate use” – which means a doctor can give a drug that is yet to be cleared by the government to a patient in a life-threatening condition.
Doctors are able to prescribe chloroquine in these circumstances as it’s a registered drug.
In India, hydroxychloroquine could be bought over the counter and is fairly inexpensive, but its purchase and use has been severely restricted ever since it was named as a possible treatment for Covid-19.
However, according to India’s Business Standard, manufacturers in the country have the ability to produce around 100 tonnes of the drug per month if needed – enough to treat some 70m people.
India has approved some exports of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug being touted as a possible coronavirus treatment, after apparent pressure from Donald Trump, who has been urging Americans to take it.
The tablets are used to prevent and treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis but over the past week the US president has been aggressively promoting the drug as a treatment for coronavirus, despite there being no conclusive medical evidence to prove its efficacy.
India, the world’s largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, had put a temporary export ban on the drug in order to preserve domestic stocks.
But in a statement on Tuesday morning, Anurag Srivastava, a government spokesperson, said that India had lifted some restrictions after officials had “confirmed the availability of medicines for all possible contingencies currently envisaged”.
Srivastava added that hydroxychloroquine would be kept in a “licensed” category, with the demand “continuously monitored”.
The partial lifting of the export ban comes after Trump confirmed he had called Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, over the weekend threatening “retaliation” if the country did not release its stocks.
Trump and Modi have a close relationship. On his inaugural visit to India in February, Trump declared Modi an “exceptional leader” and “true friend”.
During a press briefing at the White House on Monday, Trump said: “I spoke to him [Modi] Sunday morning, called him, and I said we’d appreciate your allowing our supply to come out. If he doesn’t allow it to come out, that would be OK, but of course, there may be retaliation. Why wouldn’t there be?”
In recent days, Trump has developed a public obsession with hydroxychloroquine as a miracle cure for coronavirus, boasting that the US had already stockpiled 29m doses of the drug. The basis for the president’s proclamations of the drug as a “game changer” is a study carried out by a group of scientists in March, but the results have been openly dismissed by experts and major medical bodies.
Nonetheless, despite the dubious medical evidence, the drug is now being given to 1,500 patients who have tested positive for coronavirus in New York.
India’s neighbouring countries, such as Sri Lanka and Nepal, have also put in orders for the drug. India said it would consider all exports on a case-by-case basis.
India is one of the world’s largest producers of pharmaceuticals and last month put export restrictions on dozens of drugs, including paracetamol and various antibiotics, in order to preserve domestic supply. The Indian government confirmed on Tuesday they would also be partially lifting the ban on paracetamol exports.
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