New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government held a high-level meeting with the makers of medical gloves and antiviral medicines Saturday to check availability of these products amid an outbreak of the new coronavirus, ThePrint has learnt.
Antiviral drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS have been used as a first line of treatment for coronavirus.
Held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers in New Delhi’s Shastri Bhawan, the meeting was called hours after 324 Indian nationals were brought back from coronavirus-hit Wuhan province in China.
“The objective of this meeting was to check the availability of drugs and medical devices, especially masks, gloves and antiviral drugs used for HIV. The meeting was held in anticipation of diagnosing more (recently evacuated) Indians with positive cases,” a government official, who was present at the meeting, told ThePrint.
“While the chances of more people catching an infection are negligible, we must be prepared for a big fight,” the official added.
The first coronavirus case in India was reported in Kerala earlier this week. The disease has been declared as a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ by the World Health Organization.
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Meeting focuses on availability of ‘examination gloves’
The meeting, led by P.D. Vaghela, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), was attended by Drug Controller General of India V.G. Somani, Joint Secretary of DoP Navdeep Rinwa, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Health Mandeep Bhandari and Chief of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Sachin Singh.
The associations of drug-makers that took part in the meeting apprised the government about the availability of raw materials to produce antiviral drugs in India. It is to note that Indian drugmakers import around 70 per cent of their total bulk of drugs from China.
The government also took stock of protective gloves in the Indian market. “The focus was more on ‘examination gloves’ where India is largely dependent on imports. Manufacturers have been asked to come back with alternatives to increase the total production capacity of gloves in India,” the official quoted above said.
Dinesh Dua, Chairman, Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), which is under the Ministry of Commerce, informed the government that India can increase its production of antiviral drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS as and when required.
“…India has been the top producer of these drugs for many years. We can help other nations if required,” Dua added.
324 Indian nationals back from China
All 324 Indian nationals who were brought back from China aboard a special Air India plane Saturday have tested negative for the deadly disease in the first round of screening.
They have, however, been put up at two specialised quarantine centers set up by the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for further observation.
“The blood samples of each passenger have been drawn. It will be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for the final confirmation of novel coronavirus presence. The test results take up to two to three days,” said Smriti Tiwari, a public relations officer at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital.
A team of doctors from RML Hospital had travelled to evacuate the Indian nationals from Wuhan in China along with the pilots and crew members of Air India.
India has sent a second aircraft to bring the remaining Indians from Wuhan. “Another flight will depart to Wuhan from Delhi at 12.50 pm Saturday with a different set of crew, same doctors’ team in other aircraft. The rescue team is again headed by Capt Amitabh Singh, director operation, Air India,” an Air India spokesperson was quoted as saying.
The coronavirus epidemic has spread to over 20 countries with nearly 12,000 cases and 260 deaths — mostly in China.
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