What is Hydroxychloroquine? Know All About The Drug That Donald Trump Has Been Speaking About And That Will be Exported by India to Coronavirus-Hit Countries

Nearly 15 days after banning the export of hydroxychloroquine, India on Tuesday partially lifted the ban on the wonder drug after US President Donald Trump requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to export it to aid America's fight against COVID-19 disease. But what is hydroxychloroquine, what are the uses of the drug that India will export to coronavirus affected countries? The government had in March said that it is ‘satisfied that the drug hydroxychloroquine is essential to meet the requirements of emergency arising due to pandemic COVID-19.

Hydroxychloroquine is an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria. The government in India has allowed the use of hydroxychloroquine for healthcare workers dealing with COVID-19 patients or high-risk contacts of the patients though there is limited evidence of its efficacy. On March 25, India had banned the export of hydroxychloroquine, which is used primarily to treat malaria and lupus. Two days later on March 27, the government restricted sale and distribution of the drug declaring it as an essential drug to treat the COVID-19 patients.

What is Hydroxychloroquine?

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-Malaria drug which is believed to work as a medicine for treating COVID-19 infected patients. The chemical formula of hydroxychloroquine is C18H26ClN3O. The drug is very similar to Chloroquine, one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs. The drug is also being used as prophylactic by the frontline health care workers deployed in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The drug is used to treat malaria, lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

However, health experts have said that there is still no evidence to suggest hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19. According to reports, the drug hydroxychloroquine is found to be effective against coronavirus in laboratory studies and in-vivo studies.

India Lifts Partial Ban on Hydroxychloroquine

On April 7, India lifted a partial ban on hydroxychloroquine after Trump requested PM Modi to export the drug to the US. Terming the drug as game-changer, Trump asked PM Modi to supply hydroxychloroquine that is being used to treat COVID-19 patients as US reported the highest number of the coronavirus cases in the world, with over 367,000 infections and over 10,800 deaths.

India to Export Hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 Affected Countries

In the view of the humanitarian aspects of COVID-19 pandemic, India decided to export anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to several countries including those in the neighbourhood. The supply of the drug will be done on a case-by-case basis in sync with its commitment to the international community to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the MEA said on April 7. India has received requests from several other countries including its immediate neighbours Sri Lanka and Nepal for supply of hydroxychloroquine.

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India Had Earlier Banned Export of Hydroxychloroquine

On March 25, India had banned export of hydroxychloroquine. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a notification that the export of medication and the composition ingredients used for its manufacturing have been banned.

Govt Restricts Sale of Wonder Drug

On March 27, the government restricted sale and distribution of "hydroxychloroquine" declaring it as an essential drug to treat the COVID-19 patients and meet the requirements of emergency arising due to the pandemic. It said in the public interest, it is necessary and expedient to regulate and restrict the sale and distribution of the drug 'hydroxychloroquine' and preparation based thereon for preventing their misuse".

ICMR Notification on Hydroxychloroquine

On March 22, a notification recommending the use of the medicine for high risk population, the task force constituted by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) noted that hydroxychloroquine should not instill any "false sense of security". The national task force for COVID-19 constituted by ICMR had recommended hydroxychloroquine as a preventive medication. It suggested the use of hydroxychloroquine tablets only for healthcare workers and caregivers involved in the treatment and in direct contact with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Hydroxychloroquine is Not The Cure For COVID-19

It must be noted that there is no cure for COVID-19 even as researchers are trying hard to develop a vaccine to prevent COVID-19. Also, the efficacy of several drugs, including hydroxychloroquine, in the treatment of the disease is still being investigated. The Health Ministry in India on April 6 stated that there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine to deal with COVID-19 and there is not enough evidence proof to advise it for people.

India is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hydroxychloroquine. Earlier, the Health Ministry had placed an order of about 10 crore hydroxychloroquine tablets with various pharmaceutical companies to help healthcare workers in the fight against COVID-19.

India is currently in the third week of its 21-day nationwide lockdown which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24. The total number of COVID-19 cases mounted to 4421 on April 7 with 3,981 active cases. Maharashtra continuing to be the worst-hit with 868 total confirmed cases and 52 deaths so far. So far, 114 people have died due to coronavirus in India.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 07, 2020 01:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).