Barely two days after he threatened retaliation, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India sending consignments of hydroxychloroquine to fight coronavirus.
“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!,” Trump tweeted.
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
Earlier this week, India eased restrictions on the export of hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol to fulfil existing orders following requests from nearly 20 countries including the United States and Brazil.
Ahead of his effusive tweet, President Tump had supported the Narendra Modi government’s stand on hydroxychloroquine and praised India’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I bought millions of doses. More than 29 million. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi, a lot of it comes out of India. I asked him 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. So it is not something like….You know we are doing vaccines. Johnson and Johnson, they need to test that. It seems malaria affected counties are unaffected where it is common,” he told Fox news.
India is the world’s biggest manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine and produces approximately 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. The United States’ Food and Drug Administration has identified the medicine as a possible treatment for COVID-19 cases.
On Monday, Trump had spoken of “retaliation” if India turned down his request hydroxychloroquine, which he has touted as a “game-changer” in the fight against the coronavirus.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for healthcare workers attending to Covid-19 patients.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research: “Hydroxychloroquine is 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.”
Additionally, a small placebo-controlled clinical trial in China boosted the global demand for hydroxychloroquine after it 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
India’s National Taskforce for Covid-19 has recommended the use of 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”.
