New Delhi: A severe outbreak of Corona virus in China may cause shortage of some much needed medicines in India. Industry organization FICCI has said that if the supply of raw materials from China is affected for two months, then the production of certain essential and commonly used medicines like paracetamol, ibuprofen, some antibiotics and diabetes drugs in India will be adversely affected. May be required. The production and supply of smartphones and solar devices is already affected due to the virus.
FICCI has said that Indian pharmaceutical companies usually keep a two-month stock of raw materials, so there is no problem at the moment, but if the problem persists, production could be affected. “If the shutdown in China increases from February onwards due to corona, the prices of some drugs made in India may rise,” the industry body said. According to industry estimates, 70% of the raw material for the production of medicines in India comes from China.
At the same time, the central government has said that the companies have abundant stock of medicines till April. The Union Health Ministry is working on a plan to ensure that there is no shortage of medicines if the lockdown continues in China for the next 15 days. Measures will also be taken for this. The government has identified some specialty drugs, the main source of API of which is Hubei Province and is the focal point of the corona virus.
According to a FICCI study, 90% of the raw material comes from China for the production of penicillin and some other related drugs. At the same time, India is dependent on 70% of Chinese imports in segments such as telecom equipment and some organic compounds. After 94 new deaths were reported from Hubei, China, the death toll from the corona virus epidemic there has risen to 1,110.
