March 6: The Government of Nepal has decided to request the Indian government not to halt the supplies of medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to Nepal.

A high-level coordination committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokharel has decided to write to Indian authorities not to halt supplies of life saving drugs in the wake of coronavirus outbreak across the globe.

Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed during a regular press meet on Thursday that the government has decided to write letter to the Indian government in this regard.

He further said that there is no need to panic as there is adequate stock of medicines for the time being. However, the minister said that the government decided to solicit support from India to ensure that there is no shortage of medicines in the future as the global supplier plans to restrict export of medicines.

Minister Khatiwada also said that the government is collaborating with the private sector to increase the production of face masks to ward off coronavirus.

Nepal is chiefly dependent on India and China for medicines and APIs.  

The global supply of medicines has been threatened due to the coronavirus outbreak as China, the chief supplier of APIs has stopped exporting the raw materials to India and other countries.