MEA playing key role in procuring crucial medical equipment to fight COVID-19: Official

In order to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, MEA plays a vital role in making the necessary medical equipment available. Six SUV-sized high-speed testing machines, which are in high demand, are being sourced from Roche in the US etc. As per MEA, eleven empowered groups have been set up for an integrated all-of-government approach.

The Ministry of External Affairs has been playing a key role in ensuring availability of essential medical equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and due to the proactive actions of the Indian missions abroad test kits, personal protection equipment and masks will be procured in the coming weeks, officials said.

MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that six SUV-sized high-speed testing machines, which are in high demand, are being sourced from Roche in the US, and India's research and development labs are in touch with their counterparts in Israel and Germany which are undertaking cutting edge work.

As part of the government's response to the COVID-19 situation, eleven empowered groups have been set up for an integrated all-of-government approach, Srivastava said.

The MEA has been playing a key role in the empowered group that deals with ensuring availability of essential medical equipment and supplies.

"Our missions and posts have been at the forefront of our efforts to ensure expeditious and time-bound implementation of plans for procurement from overseas suppliers," he said.

Indian missions' role extends from scouting the market, tapping commercial opportunities, facilitating supply contracts, closely coordinating on the ground in ensuring that deliveries take place in a timely manner, Srivastava said.

"As a result of these efforts, we have started receiving some of the equipment, and expect further supplies of test kits, PPEs, masks etc. in the coming weeks," he said.

In the past two weeks, around two dozen flights departed for India from five cities in China carrying nearly 400 tonnes of medical supplies, including RT-PCR test kits, Rapid Antibody Tests, PPE kits, thermometers etc., the official said.

"Around 20 more flights are expected to bring supplies from China in the coming days, and this is likely to be stepped up considerably in the next few months as our procurement efforts gain momentum," Srivastava said.

"We are also facilitating collaboration between Indian and foreign agencies in research and development efforts (such as on Remdesivir, PLX Cells etc.) related to COVID-19," he said.

The Indian subsidiary of a South Korean company has commenced production of COVID-19 rapid anti-body testing kits in its plant in Manesar, Haryana, with a capacity of 5 lakh tests per week, as a result of the coordination of various agencies in India, he said.
The first batch has already been rolled out on April 19, he said.

"Our mission has also signed a contract on behalf of ICMR with another South Korean company to procure and supply five lakh coronavirus testing kits," Srivastava said.

As a major and responsible supplier of pharmaceutical products to the world, India has been providing humanitarian aid and commercial supplies including HCQs (hydroxychloroquine) and paracetamol, Srivastava said.

"We have gifted 5 million HCQ tablets to countries in the neighbourhood and the IOR (Indian Ocean Region), Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, Eurasia and WANA regions. We are also providing 1.32 million PCM tablets to our neighbouring and other partner countries," Srivastava said.

"Apart from HCQ and PCM, we are also providing a big basket of other medical aid which includes essential drugs and life-saving antibiotics; medical consumable; and other equipment for laboratories and hospitals. Value of the total medicines and other supplies to be gifted by India stands at INR 383 million (about USD 5 million)," he said.

India has given clearance to commercial consignments of around 285 million HCQ tablets to 40 countries.

Commercial consignments of around 500 million PCM tablets for 60 countries have also been cleared, Srivastava said.

"The leadership in these countries has been appreciative of our efforts in ensuring supply of these medicines," he said.

India has also responded promptly to requests for deployment of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) comprising doctors, nurses and paramedics, he said.

"These RRTs are ready for deployment at short notice and have so far been deployed in Maldives and Kuwait at the request of their governments," the MEA spokesperson said.

These RRTs have helped train and exchange best practices with local medical professionals on various aspects of dealing with the pandemic, he said.

Srivastava also highlighted that the MEA COVID-19 control room, which is being manned 24x7 by teams from MEA since March 16, has received more than 3,000 calls and 25,000 emails till this morning.

(Inputs from PTI)