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Rabat – Morocco will receive a shipment of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets from India this weekend, the Indian Embassy in Rabat announced on May 16.
HCQ, along with other anti-malaria medicines such as chloroquine, is a medicine used in the treatment of COVID-19.
India’s embassy in Rabat shared a press release with Morocco World News announcing that the Indian government licensed the export of a consignment of hydroxychloroquine to Morocco.
The statement said the export license has been issued to the Moroccan Ministry of Health.
The license contains a quantity of six million tablets of Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate manufactured by IPCA Laboratories Pvt. LTD set to arrive in Morocco this weekend.
Morocco’s Ministry of Health made the sovereign decision, after careful consideration, in March to use the anti-malaria medicine chloroquine and its derivatives like hydroxychloroquine to treat the country’s COVID-19 patients.
The Indian Embassy in Rabat said the decision reflects the “excellent relations between India and Morocco,” adding that collaboration in the health sector has long been a key focus of bilateral relations.
The statement recalled the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of health in December 2007. Under the framework of the MoU, a joint working group met in July 2018 in New Delhi.
The embassy also highlighted a telemedicine cooperation underway between India’s Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in Pondicherry and Morocco’s Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakech.
“Both countries have finalized an MOU on further expanding telemedicine linkages under India’s e-ArogyaBahrati scheme,” the press release stated.
The embassy also announced the emergence of private pharmaceutical companies Sun Pharma and Cipla in Morocco. The two companies are active in addressing local pharmaceutical needs, the statement added.
The shipment that the Indian government approved to Morocco is part of its international approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.
India has dispatched medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients to over 130 countries and sent medicines such as HCQ, paracetamol, and other drugs required for COVID-19 patients to over 25 countries.
In addition to medical supplies, India has also started offering digital courses on health, the statement explained.
“The e-ITEC course on ‘COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevention and Management Guidelines for Healthcare Professionals,’ held recently, was also attended by a representative of the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Morocco,” the statement underlined.
Morocco and India maintain strong diplomatic relations and enjoy mutually beneficial cooperation. In April, the ambassador of India to Morocco, Shambhu S. Kumaran, expressed hope for further development of bilateral ties. The two countries already cooperate in various fields, including trade.
The key sectors for exports from India to Morocco include gas oils and fuel oils, synthetic and artificial fiber yarn for weaving, pharma products, electrical and engineering goods, and spices and food products. Morocco exports predominantly phosphoric acid and phosphates, amounting to up to $1 billion, annually to India.
