India allows limited exports of anti-malaria drug after
Trump warns of retaliation
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[April 07, 2020]
By Neha Dasgupta and Sanjeev Miglani
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India, the world's
main supplier of generic drugs, said on Tuesday it will allow limited
exports of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine that U.S. President
Donald Trump has touted as a potential weapon in the fight against the
coronavirus.
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The
Indian government had put a hold on exports of hydroxychloroquine as
well as on the pain reliever, paracetamol, saying stocks were
depleting because of the hit to global supply chains after the
coronavirus emerged in China late last year.
But Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the weekend
seeking supplies and on Monday said India may face retaliation if it
didn't withdraw the ban on exports.
India's neighbours, including Nepal, have also sought the
anti-malaria drug.
"It has been decided that India would licence paracetamol and HCQ in
appropriate quantities to all our neighbouring countries who are
dependent on our capabilities," said Indian foreign ministry
spokesman Anurag Srivastava.
"We will also be supplying these essential drugs to some nations who
have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic," he said.
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Use of hydroxychloroquine has soared as the United States has quickly become the
epicentre of the pandemic, though doctors prescribing it have no idea whether it
works.
U.S. fatalities from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, hit
10,902 on Monday, rapidly closing in on Italy and Spain, the countries with the
greatest loss of life to date, according to a Reuters tally of official data.
In addition, the Indian government said it was lifting curbs on the export of 24
pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines made from them that includes several
antibiotics, such as tinidazole and erythromycin, the hormone progesterone and
Vitamin B12.
"After having confirmed the availability of medicines for all possible
contingencies currently envisaged, these restrictions have been largely lifted,
" foreign ministry spokesman Srivastava said.
(Reporter Neha Dasgupta; Editing by Neil Fullick and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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