ഹോളീ ക്രോസ് എച്ച്.എസ്സ്.എസ്സ്. ചേർപ്പുങ്കൽ/അക്ഷരവൃക്ഷം/India an Unsung Pharmaceutical Hero
India an Unsung Pharmaceutical Hero
The great disaster named COVID-19 is making worries
all over the world. A disease that began its journey from
Wuhan in China. But now the disease is shaking the whole
world, mostly in the Americas and Europe. The most
effective medicine ever used for this virus is
Hydroxychloroquine. The American president Donald
Trump himself has requested to the prime minister of India
for the supply of Hydroxychloroquine medicine. Our Government has banned its export in the light of the
Pandemic. The early use of this medicine was considered
as effective in its treatment for which no other drug is
discovered so far. Now let us see is what is this
Hydroxychloroquine medicine, and why the world
considers India as a hero in the case of this medicine.
What is Hydroxychloroquine? Generally, the medicines may be classified into Branded
and Generic. The new medicines are usually developed by
Pharmaceutical companies and they own its patent
which usually valid for twenty years. During the patented
period they fix the price. The price so fixed will be too
high to cover the R&D expenses, promotional and
branding expenses, etc. The profit margin of producers
and distributors will also be very high. Thus the branded
medicines seem to be too expensive all over the world.
On the other hand, after the patent expiry lot companies
may produce and sell the same medicine as Generic. That
means it is not patented and can be sold at bottom level
prices. Our country generally depends on such medicine
which is affordable to all. The pandemic time necessity
Hydroxychloroquine is a generic prescription drug. It
comes as an oral tablet. Hydroxychloroquine is in a class
of drugs called antimalarial. It is used to prevent and
treat acute attacks of malaria. It is also used to treat
discoid or systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid
arthritis in patients whose symptoms have not improved
with other treatments. This medication is sometimes
prescribed for other uses. Hydroxychloroquine is also
available in the brand-name Plaque nil. The Generic
drugs usually cost less than the branded version. It may
have slight differences in composition and dosage.
Hydroxychloroquine may be used as part of
combination therapy. That means you may need to take
it with other drugs. Why Indian Hydroxychloroquine?
Let’s go through a flashback, in 2001, the sub- Saharan
region of Africa was suffered strongly by HIV. The
branded medicine supplied by the European Companies will cost 10,000 dollars per patient every year. During
the same period, an Indian Pharmaceutical company named
Cipla made their way. They created a generic form of this
medicine, which only caused 400 dollars instead of
10,000. The Indian companies are not only selling anti –
retroviral drugs for AIDS treatment but also for the
treatment of Malaria, TB, etc. The major companies like
Cipla, Sun Pharma, Dr.Reddies, Ranbaxy etc along with
dozens of small companies in India are engaged in
providing the Generic medicines needed by African
countries and the rest of the world. The second Executive
Director UNAIDS Michel Sidibe rightly remarked that they
cannot treat AIDS patients with two billion Dollars,
without the support of Indian Medicine. Now India is helping the world once again, so as an Indian let us all say JAI HIND with extra pride.
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