India put a total ban on exports of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that U.S. President Donald Trump has touted as a “game changer” in the global fight against Coronavirus
Exports of the drug and its formulations have been prohibited “without any exceptions” and with immediate effect, India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade saidin an April 4 order on its website.
The world which is in the deadly grit of the pandemic is desperately hoping that the medicine once made famous for its power in beating back malaria could be a quick and immediate answer to another scourge.
It comes at a time scientists around the world begin interrogation into an emerging correlation between countries of endemic malaria and nations where Coronavirus cases have more prevalent and deadly.
The theory seems to provide support for why much of Africa and India where malaria has found home are also regions where cases of Coronavirus have the fewer and most mild.
In Nigeria the authorities have given approval for clinical trials for the drug while Senegal announced yesterday its doctors had recorded I,press ice results in the use of the medicine in the treatment of Coronavirus patients there.
India’s trade regulator had last month restricted overseas shipments of the drug, allowing only limited exceptions such as on humanitarian grounds and for meeting prior commitments.
The new ban reflects India’s rising concern over the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, with incidents of community spread emerging from different parts of the country of 1.3 billion people.
It comes on a weekend when Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the global supply chain for drugs and other medical supplies with Trump, who has advocated the use of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for people with Covid-19. Its efficacy against coronavirus infections remains unproven.
India has recorded 3,374 positive cases so far and has lost 77 lives, according to the federal health ministry. The country has struggled to keep people indoors during a three-week lockdown that started March 25, raising fears of accelerating spread.
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