India to donate 10,000 Hydroxychloroquine tablets to Guyana

The Indian Government will be donating 10,000 Hydroxychloroquine tablets to the Guyana Government in the coming weeks to help treat patients who contracted the Coronavirus Disease.

This is according to Indian High Commissioner to Guyana Dr. K. J. Srinivasa who told the News Room on Friday that all systems are in place for the medication which is made in India, to be shipped here.

“We have placed the order in India. It is due to be transshipped. For a start, we are giving about 10,000 tablets of Hydroxychloroquine because we also committed various quantities because there is a finite out of this tablet right now,” the Diplomat said.

He said the donation is a part of assistance to other Caribbean countries and not a request from the Government of Guyana.

Hydroxychloroquine –originally a Malaria drug –is used to treat COVID-19 at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

The trial began in many other countries after it was found to be efficient on SARS-CoV-2 and in Chinese COVID-19 patients.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had temporarily suspended the trial following a recent study which raised warnings about the drug’s safety, however, the trial was resumed after questions were raised about the reliability of the data used in the study.

According to the WHO, to date, over 400 hospitals in 35 countries are actively recruiting patients and nearly 3,500 patients have been enrolled from 17 countries to use Hydroxychloroquine.

Additionally, the Government of India is working with Caribbean countries including Guyana to utilise the US$1M each from a grant approved by that country in September 2019.

The Indian Government approved US$14M to assist CARICOM nations under the International Fund For Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 2019. Many Governments have since asked for the funds to be diverted to aid in combatting COVID-19.

Dr. Srinivasa said the monies can now be used to purchase personal protective gears, ventilators and other items needed to fight the pandemic.

He said he is awaiting a document from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in order to release the funding.