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India is one of the world’s largest producers of hydroxychloroquine. India is also Canada’s largest supplier of the drug by far, with 90 per cent of our supplies coming from the country.

Catenaro said Friday the government also managed to have the Indian export ban lifted on acetaminophen, a medication used to treat pain and fever (the most common version is Tylenol). She said Canada had a few orders from India that were being blocked by the export restrictions.

But in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, making an order for medication or personal protective equipment is far from a guarantee that it will be received. Ng’s office acknowledged that, but said India assured that the medication would be sent “in the near future.”

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Theresa Tam, has often cautioned against the use of the hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. But earlier this month, she said that Canada is studying the drug and that it is “definitely one on the list” of possible treatments for the novel coronavirus.

“There’s currently no proven treatment for COVID-19, but we do have clinical trial sites and so making sure that those trials are enabled is very important and getting supplies for that. It is definitely something that we are working on but Health Canada is monitoring the supplies of all essential medicines and drugs very closely,” Tam told reporters on April 4.

But Catenaro said the five million pills are earmarked for patients who need it to treat lupus, malaria or rheumatoid arthritis. So they will not be used for clinical trials or to treat COVID-19.

“This particular shipment is going to be used for its original purpose, and it is separate from the trials that are happening with Health Canada,” she said.