PHNOM PENH, March 12 (Phnom Penh Post/ANN): Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen has granted permission to a local drug company to produce the Covid-19 antiviral medicine molnupiravir to ease supply and distribution concerns, according to Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine.
Vandine confirmed to reporters on March 10 – during the handover ceremony of 20 vaccination vehicles to several provincial health departments – that Hun Sen had given the nod to a local pharmaceutical company to produce molnupiravir to ensure its wide availability across the Kingdom.
“The other goal of this approval is to reduce the price of this medicine. Approval has been granted, and we have also issued registrations for several other Covid-19 medications that are currently imported.
In the meantime, all of these medicines are widely available for the public to purchase at any authorised pharmacy,” she said.
Vandine, who is also head of national Covid-19 vaccination committee, said the general public should not be worried about any future shortages of the popular molnupiravir. If it is not available, people could also opt to use other medication – like Chinese traditional medicine, which is also effective against Covid-19.
“We are producing traditional Chinese medicine for sale within the Kingdom as well. In fact, we are considering exporting it as well,” she added.
Manwhile, Cambodia's Ministry of Health on Saturday (March 12) reported 205 new Covid-19 cases, 16 of which were imported and all were confirmed to be the Omicron variant.
The ministry also reported 323 recoveries and one new death.
As of March 2, Cambodia had recorded a total of 133,943 Covid-19 cases with 128,623 recoveries and 3,046 fatalities. - Phnom Penh Post/ANN
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