China offers raw materials for vaccine production to India
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Summary
Funding agency [Type]
Unspecified Chinese Government Institution [Government Agency]
Recipient
India
Sector
Health (Code: 120)
Flow type
Vague TBD
Infrastructure
No
Category
Project lifecycle
Description
On November 16th, 2005, India and China signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the health sector. This was decided during talks the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, had with his Chinese counterpart and other authorities in Beijing. One of the most important outcomes of the visit was China's agreement to supply India with shikimic acid, the raw material derived from Chinese spice star anise for manufacturing the TamiFlu Vaccine, on a cost-effective basis, after the price of the acid had soared to over $500/kg that year. This is to combat the bird-flu likely to strike the South-Asian region, including India in the coming foreseeable future. Dr. Ramadoss urged the Chinese Health Minister, Mr. Gao Qiang, to help facilitate the supply of the raw material on a cost-effective basis. India did ship shikimic acid from China after signing of the MOU, but it is unclear whether this was at a reduced price, as agreed.
Number of official sources
0
Number of total sources
3
Details
Cofinanced
No