The price of oxygen on the black market is 10 times more expensive, the Indian people pay for it

The shortage of medical goods during the COVID-19 India epidemic has left people desperate to find alternative supplies at all costs.
While Mrs. Poonam Sinha was fighting for her life, her son desperately sought out the black market suppliers. He needed medication for COVID-19 because the hospital was gone.

Drug shortages and medical hypoxia in India when the “tsunami” of COVID-19 swept through unintentionally to help the mercenaries, although many volunteers are still trying to support people on Twitter and Instagram. In the eastern Indian city of Patna, Pranay Puji runs from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for remdesivir for his seriously ill mother. The lack of oxygen in Indian hospitals is severe. (Artwork: Times of India) Finally, a pharmacist told him that if he wanted to buy this drug he had to go to the black market. The supply is offered at 100,000 rupees (1,340 USD), 30 times more expensive than the normal price and 3 times the average monthly income of an office worker in India. Punj then got the medicine from a distant relative whose wife just died of COVID-19. But the “nightmare” has only just begun. In the middle of the night, he received a phone call informing the hospital was running out of oxygen, pushing his mother’s situation into a more pressing situation. “A few hours ago, we managed to give my mother a very expensive hospital bed in a private hospital and move her there.” , I said. Similar heartbreaking stories unfold across India. Desperate people went to social media to ask for support with beds, oxygen and medicine. Although “Pharmacy of the world”, Indian drug manufacturers are unable to meet demand for antivirals such as remdesivir and favipiravir. In the northern city of Lucknow, Mr. Ahmed Abbas has just bought a 46-liter oxygen tank for 45,000 rubles ($ 602), nine times more expensive than the normal price. “They told me to pay first and come to them to pick up the goods the next day”, Abbas said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is being criticized for allowing mass events during the epidemic, said on April 20 that India was “making an effort” to increase supplies of medical goods. “One solution to this crisis is to create a stockpile of antiviral drugs when case numbers are low, but that has not been done.” , Says Raman GaiGaik, infectious disease specialist at Sahyadri Hospital, Pune. The remdesivir manufacturers responded Indian Express Last week the government asked them to stop production from January when the number of infections dropped. As the number of cases increased at a record speed, the Indian government did not take much action while health workers and residents were worried. “My friend is desperate … we tried all the government help lines but no one responded to (and) most of the oxygen providers turned off the phone”, Zain Zaidi, sales manager at a hotel in Lucknow said. “I just found a supplier but he charges 20,000 rupees. I have to buy it no matter what.” The 34-year-old man told AFP in a shocked voice before hanging up. Sheet Times of India reported that the average cost of an oxygen tank has “skyrocketed”, to 20,000 to 25,000 rupees, about 250-330 dollars. The viral advertisement on the oxygen tank costs 30,000 rupees (about 400 USD). Another offered it for 35,000 rupees, about $ 460. According to World Bank data, the gross national income per capita (GNI) in India is $ 2,120 per year. India is not the only country lacking oxygen. The WHO said 25 countries around the world reported a spike in oxygen demand, mainly in Africa. Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Egypt, Nigeria and other countries all reported equipment shortages as the number of COVID-19 cases increased, and more people turned to the black market. According to WHO estimates, more than half a million COVID-19 patients need daily oxygen therapy. That means 1.1 million oxygen cylinders per day.