‘Thank you India’: Trump praises India, PM Modi for lifting export ban on hydroxychloroquine

Published by : theadmin | April 9, 2020 6:19 am

“Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!”: Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked India and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter, in response to the Indian government’s decision to lift the ban on export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine that Trump said would be a game-changer in the battle against Covid-19 pandemic.

Trump’s tweet, thanking India and PM Modifor lifting the export restrictions was in sharp contrast to his interaction with reporters this week when he threatened “retaliation” if the restrictions weren’t lifted.

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

Trump told Fox News in an interview a few hours earlier to his tweet about buying more than 29 million tablets of the drug, his conversation with PM Modi on Saturday and India’s success in handling the pandemic.

“I asked him (PM Modi) if he would release it? He was great. He was really good. You know they put a stop because they wanted it for India. But there is a lot of good things coming from that. Lot of people looking at it and saying, you know I don’t hear bad stories, I hear good stories. And I don’t hear anything where it was causing death,” he told Fox News.

India is the world’s largest manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine, producing nearly 70 per cent of the world’s supply. The demand for the drug, which is also used by patients of rheumatoid arthritis, was boosted after a small placebo-controlled clinical trial in China demonstrated that the anti-malarial drug shortened the duration and reduced the severity of cough, fever and pneumonia in patients with mild and moderate disease, a report in Hindustan Times said.

India banned the export of hydroxychloroquine and any formulation containing it on March 25. Last week the ban was expanded to cover exports from special economic zones, blocking pending orders, including from the US, the report said.

Apart from the US, there was pressure on India from at least 20 countries to lift the export ban on the lifesaving drug.

According to reports, India’s National Task force for Covid-19 recommends only hydroxychloroquine for infections among “asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19” and “asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases”.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) says hydroxychloroquine has been found to be effective against coronavirus in laboratory studies and in-vivo studies. “Its use in prophylaxis is derived from available evidence of benefit as treatment and supported by pre-clinical data.”