There’s Enough Hydroxychloroquine To Last A Month, Assures Indian Govt

New Delhi: The Union government’s decision to export hydrochloroquine (HCQ) tablets to the USA and some other countries has irked many in India. But an official of the Health Ministry assured that after there is enough HCQ in stock for domestic use.

India has 3.28 crore hydrochloroquine tablets, which is three times more than what is required. It will fulfil an entire month’s requirement, informed the official.

“There were a lot of requests of HCQ and taking into view domestic stock and requirement and keeping sufficient buffer, a decision was taken by GoM to release some of the surplus medicine for export purposes,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary of the health ministry.

“Next week, we will require one crore HCQ tablets for domestic use. We have over 3.28 crore. This will complete the entire month’s requirement.”

There has been a lot of debate on whether the anti-malaria drug can be used to treat novel coronavirus. The jury is still out, though many countries like the USA want to use HCQ to check COVID-19.