Swadeshi Jagran Manch demands regulatory clearance for local production of Sputnik

SJM cited the surge in Covid cases and called for an urgent need to have medicines and vaccines available at affordable prices

Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has urged the Centre to provide regulatory clearance for the local production of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and impose a ceiling of prices on Covid-19 medicines and vaccines taking into account the cost of production-based formula. It cited the surge in Covid cases and called for an urgent need to have medicines and vaccines available at affordable prices.

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As the vaccination has been opened up for everyone over 18, the SJM has underlined the need for more production. “In the case of vaccines, the country needs nearly 195 crore of doses to cover at least 70% of the population. This cannot be fulfilled by the two companies alone. There is an urgent need to bring more manufactures to start the production. To facilitate the technology transfer, the government has to take measures to overcome the intellectual property barriers including patent and trade secrets,” said SJM’s national co-convenor, Ashwani Mahajan.

“...the local production of remdesivir and favirapvir is taking place, the available quantity is highly inadequate to meet the increasing demand due to the severity of the problem. Another important medicine to treat COVID 19 patients with a deadly ‘cytokine storm’ is tocilizumab, which is not produced in India. The import of this medicine is highly inadequate to meet the requirements.”

Amid the high demand for antiviral remdesivir and the exorbitant prices being quoted, the SJM, which has been at the forefront of the campaign for indigenous production, pointed out that despite the voluntary price reduction, it still costs between ₹899 and ₹3,490 per vial. “Reports in this regard state the cost of the full course of remedsivir including reasonable profit is around USD 9 i.e. around ₹666. On the other hand, the cost of tocilizumab is ₹40,000 per vial. Under the present scenario the general public is reeling under the corporate greed, which needs to be curbed at any cost,” Mahajan said.

The SJM has asked the government to use the public health safeguards in the Patents Act and permit more companies to produce these medicines.

The SJM also slammed Bill Gates for his statement that vaccine formula should not be shared with India and other countries. “This is nothing but yet another manifestation of corporate greed to profit from the worst pandemic of the century. There is an urgent need to invoke measures like the ceiling of the prices of these medicines. The prices of vaccines announced by both companies for the state government procurement and private hospitals are exorbitant and affect the acceleration of vaccination in the country,” Mahajan said.