BMC distributes 1.7 million HCQ tablets as preventive medicine

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), as mandated by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), has distributed 1.71 million anti-malarial hydrochloroquine

Published on: Apr 28, 2020, 22:58:19 IST

By Snehal Fernandes, Mumbai

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), as mandated by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), has distributed 1.71 million anti-malarial hydrochloroquine (HCQ) tablets across 85 hospitals and municipal wards, over the last 19 days, as preventive medicine against Covid-19.

Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani, said, “We have started giving HCQ to people. But first, we are providing it to those working on the frontlines as per the protocol prescribed by ICMR.”

Asked if the civic body will start giving HCQ to slum dwellers, Kakani said, “We are yet to make a decision.”

On Tuesday, the civic body issued a circular of do’s and don’ts, which stated that frontline workers, while takin the HCQ, have to ensure use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and triple-layer masks.

Doctors, nurses, members of squads going for tests, close contacts of Covid-19 patients, and hospital staff working in areas where there are positive cases can be given the tablets. While those suffering from hypertension, cardiovascular diseases must consult their doctors before taking the pill, patients with retinopathy and hypersensitivity should not take HCQ.

Dosage for health workers involves 400 mg twice a day post lunch/dinner on day one. From the second day to seven weeks, it’s 400 mg, once a day, post lunch or dinner.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Snehal Fernandes
Snehal Fernandes is senior associate editor, who joined HT in 2006. She heads the Mumbai edition’s city reporting team that writes on civic and urban governance, transport and infrastructure, health, and education. She is also the National Science Editor. With a career spanning more than two decades, her expertise lies in writing on science and technology, space, environment, sustainable development, climate change, and nuclear energy. Her work consistently breaks down, and without oversimplyfying, science and research developments into an easy read for a broad audience. In 2009, she was among the very first journalist to report on the opposition to the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Ratnagiri (Konkan) following the Indo- US civil nuclear agreement and consistently followed it with multiple stories from ground zero; wrote about the introduction and subsequent halt to the cultivation of genetically modified (BT) brinjal, and has interviewed Nobel laureates and award winning scientists. In 2012, she was awarded ‘The Press Club Award for Excellence in Journalism’ (Political category) for reports on the mining scam in Goa. Prior to HT, she wrote on education and transport at the Indian Express. She graduated in sociology from St Xavier's College, and firmly believes in the phrase by Karl Marx that ‘Religion is the opium of the people’. When she is not keeping a tab on the going-ons in Mumbai and the scientific world, you'll find her reading world news, or watching crime/espionage series or political dramas. She can repeatedly watch Kill Bill with the same interest as Planet of the Apes and Spiderman. For someone who was not remotely interested in dogs or cats, she loves every bit of her time with her two-year-old Indie cat Bunny.Read More