Centre Has Ramped Up Production Of Drugs Needed For Covid-19 Treatment: PMO

Amid rampant black-marketing of key drugs used for the treatment of Covid-19, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Wednesday said that the Centre is actively monitoring the supply of all medicines needed not just for curing coronavirus but also for other related infections such as mucormycosis.

The PMO further said that the Central government has ramped up the production of these drugs including that of the highly-sought Remdesivir.

The PMO also said that the availability of liquid medical oxygen is now three times of what it was during the peak of the first Covid-19 wave, last year.

The PMO’s statements come in the backdrop of the country logging 4,205 Covid-19 fatalities and 3,48,421 new infections on Tuesday. Currently, the total tally of Covid-19 cases in the country stands at 2,33,40,938 while the death toll has risen to 2,54,197.

At a high-level meeting which Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired to review the availability and supply of oxygen and medicines, it was noted that states are being provided medicines in good quantities with the Centre in regular touch with the manufacturers to enhance their production and extend all help needed, the PMO said.

During the meet, Modi said India has a very vibrant pharma sector and the government's continued close coordination with them will ensure proper availability of all medicines.

The PMO said Modi was also briefed about the operations of oxygen rail and sorties by IAF planes besides the status of procurement of oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders as well as the status of plants being installed across the country to produce the life-saving gas.

Amid reports of ventilators lying unused in some states with local authorities blaming quality issues in a few cases, Modi said states should be asked to operationalise them in a time-bound manner and resolve technical and training matters with the help of manufacturers.

(With PTI inputs)