Coronavirus: Restrictions imposed on some APIs, says Union Minister Mandaviya

Gandhinagar: Union Minister of State for Shipping, and Chemical and Fertilizers, Mansukh Mandaviya has said that the government has imposed short term restrictions on some active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) with regards to coronavirus preparedness.

Speaking to media, Mandaviya said, "To avoid shortage of medicines in the country, suggestions have been made by a Task Force. A permanent group of ministers keeps reviewing that. We export as well as import APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) and intermediates. In the case of some APIs, a crisis may occur in the country in the future, if they are exported. We have imposed short-term restrictions on such APIs with regard to coronavirus."

The country's total number of positive cases of coronavirus reached 30 on Thursday after a person in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh tested positive.

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Medical Dialogues has earlier reported that the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri V Sadananda Gowda had said that there is no shortage of medicines in the country to deal with the outbreak of Coronavirus.

Inaugurating India Pharma & Medical Device 2020 conference in Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat, Shri Gowda assured that so far, Government had been able to successfully restrict its spread in India due to strong surveillance and monitoring system. The global outbreak has not only posed an immense challenge to the pharma sector but also opened up a window of opportunity for the sector. He said the preparedness of Government, hospitals, medical institutions and the pharma sector to deal with Coronavirus in any eventuality have been strong and firmed up.

Read also: Need to reduce dependency on API imports: Minister appeals to Pharma Companies