India Lifts Ban On Export Of Malaria Drug After Continued Pressure By Trump

India Lifts Ban on Export of Malaria Drug After Continued Pressure by Trump

India has partially lifted a ban on exporting malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), speculated to treat COVID-19, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said on Tuesday, hours after US President Donald Trump repeated demands to obtain the drug

NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2020) India has partially lifted a ban on exporting malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), speculated to treat COVID-19, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said on Tuesday, hours after US President Donald Trump repeated demands to obtain the drug.

India banned the export of HCQ in late March after Trump touted the drug as a "game-changer" in treating COVID-19 in infected patients despite a lack of substantial proof.

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

The spokesman stressed that domestic use will be prioritized but that export on humanitarian grounds will be renewed.

"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. We will also be supplying these essential drugs to some nations who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic," Srivastava said.

At a daily news briefing about the coronavirus situation on Monday, Trump told reporters that there would be retaliation against India if it continued to restrict the export of the drug.

Trump began promoting the drug in late March despite a lack of consensus from the medical community. His comments sparked a worldwide chase for the medication and have pushed some people to resort to improvised sources of HCQ.

One man in the US died after ingesting an aquarium solution that contains a derivative of HCQ shortly after Trump first mentioned the drug.