India will allow some exports of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday (April 7), after US President Donald Trump urged New Delhi to release supplies of the drug seen as a possible treatment for Covid-19.
President Trump issued the warning a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre banned export of the drug while trials are on to check the efficiency of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19 patients.
“I would be surprised if he would, you know, because India does very well with the United States,” Trump told reporters during a press briefing at the White House.
Speaking during a daily briefing at the White House, Trump said: “I don’t like that decision [to not export the drug]. I didn’t hear that was his decision.”
Meanwhile, scientists still do not back hydroxychloroquine completely, but governments across the globe still want to build a stockpile.
Furthermore, US President Trump is not the only leader to reach out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. President of Brazil – Jair Bolsonaro too wants help from India. He made a call to the Indian Prime Minister to ensure a steady supply of hydroxychloroquine for Brazil.
India has got similar requests from at least 30 countries by now – this includes SAARC nations, as well as, Indonesia and the UAE.
Reportedly, many leaders have made a personal appeal to Prime Minister Modi.
Being the leading supplier of generic drugs in the world, India ranks third in global pharmaceutical production. According to reports, India’s share in the global market is around 20 per cent.
Trump and his administration have kept up their out-sized promotion of the anti-malaria drug not yet officially approved for fighting the new coronavirus, even though scientists say more testing is needed before it’s proven safe and effective against Covid-19.
Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro championed hydroxychloroquine in television interviews a day after the president publicly put his faith in the medication to lessen the toll of the coronavirus pandemic.
“What do I know, I’m not a doctor,” Trump said on Sunday. “But I have common sense.”
In promoting the drug’s possibilities, the president has often stated, ”What have you got to lose?”
Trump held out promise for the drug as he grasps for ways to sound hopeful in the face of a mounting death toll and with the worst weeks yet to come for the US.
The virus has killed more than 10,000 in the US, and measures meant to contain its spread have taken a painful economic toll and all but frozen life in large swaths of the country.
But medical officials warn that it’s dangerous to be hawking unproven remedies, and even Trump’s own experts have cautioned against it.
The American Medical Association’s president, Dr Patrice Harris, said she personally would not prescribe the drug for a coronavirus patient, saying the risks of severe side effects were “great and too significant to downplay” without large studies showing the drug is safe and effective for such use.
Harris pointed to the drug’s high risk of causing heart rhythm problems.
“People have their health to lose,” she said. “Your heart could stop.”
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