India Minimizes Hydroxychloroquine Export Ban

India has decided to partially lift the export ban of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, a New Delhi health officials said on April 7, 2020.

This is an important announcement since India is the largest producer of the drug globally.

Previously, India had banned the export of hydroxychloroquine on March 25, 2020.

Reacting to the government''s decision to partially lifting the ban, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said ‘India must help all countries in their fight against coronavirus, but lifesaving medicines should be made available to Indians first.’

"India must help all nations in their hour of need but lifesaving medicines should be made available to Indians in ample quantities first," he said on Twitter.

Hydroxychloroquine is an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria. 

"India has always maintained that the international community must display strong solidarity and cooperation. This approach also guided our evacuation of nationals of other countries," spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said.

"After having confirmed the availability of medicines for all possible contingencies currently envisaged, these restrictions have been largely lifted," he said.

"With regard to paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine, they will be kept in a licensed category and their demand position would be continuously monitored," Srivastava said.

"However, the stock position could allow our companies to meet the export commitments that they had contracted," he added.

According to an advisory distributed from New Delhi on March 22, 2020, hydroxychloroquine should be given to high-risk population -- asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 disease and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases.

As of April 7, 2020, reporting services confirmed about 150 fatalities related to COVID-19 disease during 2020.

Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued emergency use authorization of Hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of coronavirus patients. 

Previously available for “off-label” use, the FDA now gives hospitals and doctors emergency permission to use the anti-malarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat coronavirus patients.

Furthermore, a global survey found that hydroxychloroquine was the most highly-rated treatment against COVID-19 disease.

This survey completed by Sermo on March 27, 2020, found 37 percent of healthcare providers treating COVID-19 patients rated hydroxychloroquine as the “most effective therapy” from a list of 15 options.

COVID-19 medication news published by Precision Vaccinations.